Clinical negligence litigation is increasing and the legal rules are constantly evolving.
The Government is tackling practical difficulties raised by litigation and it is important for all healthcare managers and practitioners to be aware of the significant impact their approach to dealing with these difficulties has on clinical practice.
- The Courts have modified the test for professional negligence
- The Government has introduced new and more stringent systems for monitoring and regulating healthcare
- Changes in procedures for the conduct of litigation have been introduced in recent years
- Further radical changes in the litigation and complaints systems are proposed
be CAREful is a web-based training resource designed to reduce the risk of litigation by promoting best practice in the area of clinical governance.
Developed in full collaboration by:
- EIDO Healthcare - the UK leader in products and services designed to improve the informed consent process
- Professor Vivienne Harpwood, internationally published specialist on the subject of clinical negligence and Director of the Centre for Medico Legal Studies at Cardiff Law School
Regularly updated, providing comprehensive information about:
- the substantive legal rules relating to clinical negligence
- the various methods for tackling the problems raised by clinical negligence
- proposals for changing the clinical negligence litigation system
- the legal pitfalls that exist and how to avoid them
- the dilemmas raised when healthcare professionals are advised to practice defensively
- the principals of law and current advice from the Department of Health
- practical solutions to common problems that arise in medical practice
The learning process will be assisted
by the use of problem scenarios and self-test questions as well as using illustrations
drawn from decided cases.
Learning outcomes
On completing the course, each student should be able to:
- state the reasons for the increase in clinical negligence claims
- describe clearly and in detail the framework of the law of negligence
- state and apply the legal test for clinical negligence
- explain the importance of proof of causation in clinical negligence cases
- state in outline the way in which damages are assessed in clinical negligence cases
- explain the impact of clinical governance, audit, risk management and guidelines on the standard of care in negligence
- explain the changes in litigation procedures introduced by the Civil Procedure Rules
- describe the significance of the Civil Procedure Rules in clinical negligence cases
- state and evaluate the role of expert witnesses in clinical negligence claims
- describe the relationship between NHS Complaints and clinical negligence claims
- apply the rules of law to given fact situations
- state and evaluate proposals for reforming the methods of dealing with clinical negligence claims