This article is published as part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022.

Since the Prime Minister’s May 2021 announcement of a Public Inquiry, there has been little progress towards it occurring as expected in Spring 2022, save for the appointment of Baroness Heather Hallett DBE as its Chair. The Terms of Reference have not been published yet, although it seems clear that the Inquiry will span the entire health sector. There may well be an additional focus for the private sector on the awarding of contracts for NHS work. To date, health system leaders have been asked by NHS England (NHSE) to appoint a named inquiry lead and to start preparations around records management, contact and tracing systems for leavers and wellbeing support for staff likely to be involved. NHSE has also issued a stop notice regarding retention of documents.

What this means for you: In a public inquiry process, individuals and organisations can be compelled to provide documentation, a witness statement and oral evidence under oath. In our experience, early preparation is crucial. We suggest this spans the collation of contractual information and, where applicable, construction of an accurate timeline of events to give certainty as to information available at the time decisions were made. Read our Insight to find out more on how to prepare for the Inquiry.

Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022 

This article is part of Capsticks’ Medical Malpractice Forward View 2022. 

Read the other articles featured in this publication below: 

• Spotlight on two liability decisions to watch out for in 2022
• Fixed recoverable costs in low value clinical negligence claims are on the horizon
• Concussion injury in elite sport will remain in the headlines
• Inquests: failures of care during the pandemic may be scrutinised more closely, but ‘following the science’ will likely continue to be the dominant theme on causation
• Procedures and policies, including national policy decisions, will be central to the defence of Covid-related claims
• The latest on the Covid-19 Public Inquiry
• Learning from the Paterson Inquiry: new legislation on regulation, co-operation between regulators and more
• The rollout of technology to support the delivery of care will continue apace, with data security coming into ever sharper focus
• There is likely to be an increase in the number of clinical trials
• Safety of medicines and medical devices will come under closer scrutiny

Get in touch

Aiming to be the firm of choice for medical malpractice insurers and healthcare providers, we advise and support on all aspect of medical malpractice claims and inquests. 

To discuss how any of these issues may affect your organisation, please get in touch with Majid Hassan, Sarah Bryant or Ed Mellor.