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Legal

Who has a duty of care to keep midwives safe?

Aduty of care exists between employer and employee (Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]; Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990]) This means that employers are liable for any reasonably foreseeable harm caused...

Appealing a Nursing and Midwifery Council ‘striking off’ order

The prime function of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is to protect the public, and in the light of recent scandals about maternity care, such as the Morecambe Bay investigation (Kirkup,...

Appealing a decision

What happens when the losing side in a court case decides that it wants to appeal? It is an understandable inclination, especially after what is often years of protracted negotiation and debate;...

Mothers with babies in prams can occupy wheelchair spaces on buses

The UK Supreme Court has, in part, overruled the Court of Appeal in an appeal in the case of Paulley v Firstgroup PLC [2017], bringing to an end protracted litigation over whether wheelchair users or...

Compensation for psychiatric harm after a mismanaged birth

The High Court has recently awarded damages for psychiatric harm to a mother whose baby had become stuck in the birth canal and had suffered a hypoxic injury due to lack of oxygen, and the grandmother...

Damages awarded for ‘nervous shock’ at a birth

A recent court case heard a claim by a baby's mother and grandmother for damages relating to ‘nervous shock’ following a birth complicated by dystocia (RE and others v Calderdale, 2017) To claim such...

Community midwives' work time includes travel to and from home

The European Union (EU) introduced a working time directive in 1993 (Council Directive 93/104/EC) that was implemented in the United Kingdom Law by the Working Time Regulations 1998 The regulations...

Assessing Gillick competence

The United Nations Convention on Children's Rights defines a child as any person under 18 It requires that childhood is recognised as a developmental period and that our domestic laws must be...

A case of autism, learning disability, and refusal of a planned caesarean

In November 2016 a London court heard a case concerning a 24-year-old whose capacity to consent was being challenged by an NHS Trust (Re CA [2016]) The woman, known as ‘CA’, who lived in supported...

A court order does not guarantee that a child will be immunised

Childhood immunisation is a key tool in health protection and disease control used by the government to discharge its obligations under the European Social Charter 1961, Article 11, which requires...

Parental access to children's records: Considerations for midwives

Midwives have women of varying ages on their caseload, and it is essential that any care or treatment provided is done so within the law Records provide evidence of a midwife's involvement with a...

Of embellished memories and the expertise of experts

A recent High Court case (Watts v The Secretary of State for Health [2016]) has raised a number of issues, including the reliance that can be put on a claimant's accounts of the events in question,...

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