Training & Knowledge: February 2021

25th Feb 2021Newsletters

Remote hearings and dishonesty

Bilta v SVS Securities and others [2021] EWHC 36 (Ch) The third national lockdown has seen a shift in the approach of many healthcare regulators. There is now a radically increased drive to deal with cases remotely – even if contested evidence is involved – and even if the allegation is one of dishonesty. In […]

25th Feb 2021Newsletters

Conditional Discharges in regulatory proceedings

GOsC v Wray [2020] EWHC 3409 (Admin) How should regulators deal with professionals convicted of criminal offences, but who receive as a sentence nothing more than a conditional discharge? Most regulators have provisions in their rules for “conviction cases”. Generally the conviction is considered to be conclusive proof of the facts, and the registrant is […]

25th Feb 2021Newsletters

When does inappropriate behaviour in the workplace amount to harassment?

PSA v HCPC and Leonard Ren-Yi Yong [2021] EWHC 52 (Admin) In a recent appeal, the Professional Standards Authority (“the PSA”) invited the High Court to overturn findings of the Health and Care Professions Council (“the HCPC”) that certain comments made by Mr Ren-Yi Yong – a social worker employed by the London Borough of […]

25th Feb 2021Newsletters

Interfering with the Tribunal’s discretion?

PSA v GMC and Dighton [2020] EWHC 3122 (Admin) Before the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Dr Dighton faced allegations that – despite lacking the expertise to do so – he had prescribed a number of addictive medications to a vulnerable patient without informing her GP, and had failed to adequately assess her or refer her to […]

25th Feb 2021Newsletters

Medical notes: a presumption of accuracy?

The status of medical records is a key consideration in many regulatory cases. It may often be critical. Indeed, it may sometimes be the only bulwark against a patient’s vehement recollection – years after the event – that a particular symptom was present on a given day, or some specific advice was not given by […]