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Fit for the future – our NHS legislation wish list
Whilst politicians fight over the bloody remains of the June 2017 election there is likely to remain a broad political consensus that health and social care integration is desirable. NHS and local authority leaders will continue to try to implement sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) and develop accountable care systems (ACSs).
Newsflash: Hempsons wins Best Professional Services at the Care Home Awards 2017
Hempsons wins best Best Professional Services, legal, financial, planning property management, compliance at the Care Home Awards 2017
Data protection – getting it right
Dentists across the UK will be all too familiar with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) but possibly not yet accustomed to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which will apply from 25 May 2018. Notwithstanding Brexit, the UK government has indicated that it will implement the new regime.
Newsflash: Digital Health Services and the CQC
Building on the CQC guidance issued in March this year for digital health providers (see http://www.cqc.org.uk/file/1295582) the CQC has issued an update on issues uncovered in a number of recent inspections, particularly in relation to online prescribing.
Newsflash: New competition law requirements for the private healthcare sector including NHS private patient units
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has made an order to implement the “consultant fees remedy” under the Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 (the Order).
Charities and Social Enterprise Newsbrief: Summer 2017 edition now available
Welcome to the Summer 2017 edition of Hempsons’ Charities and Social Enterprise newsbrief
Health start-ups: Online prescribing is no panacea – the pitfalls and perils of prescribing medication online
This is a particularly complex area so it’s as well to know what is what. Interfaces (such as Amazon, E-bay and Uber) which utilise the internet, SMS and Apps to deliver goods and services, are popular because they save time – and savvy healthcare businesses realise that patients are no different. They view time taken to make doctors’ appointments and queuing at the surgery as wasted time. Such business are capitalising on this perception by creating interfaces which allow patients to obtain prescriptions remotely (on-line, by SMS or App).
Lease repairs for surgery premises – tackling and managing the risks
If you are a tenant of your surgery premises under a lease, it is essential you understand and manage your repairing obligations. Depending on the size, age and condition of the premises, the costs of meeting these obligations can run into the tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds – and a regular programme of maintenance can help to avoid larger claims arising at a later date.
Updated GMC Guidance on Confidentiality 2017 – what you need to know
The updated GMC Guidance Confidentiality: Good Practice in Handling Patient Information (“the Guidance”) came into effect on 25 April 2017. The Guidance builds upon the core principles set out in the GMC’s Good Medical Practice. It is aimed at providing a framework for considering when to disclose a patient’s personal information and sets out the responsibilities of all doctors for managing and protecting that information.
GP Practice Mergers
The push towards being part of a larger clinical entity is showing no sign of abating – and we are no longer talking in terms of a “large” practice constituting 10-15k patients; we are now talking in terms of list sizes – and Contracts – governing 30-50k patients!
Changes to the National Minimum and Living Wage – What are the benefits and consequences?
The National Living Wage was introduced in April 2016, which in effect created a higher minimum wage of £7.20 per hour for workers aged 25 and older. A year on, following further increases to the National Living and Minimum Wages in April 2017, what difference has this increase made to employers and employees?
Dress codes, headscarves and discrimination
The issue of dress codes and religious clothing has featured in the news recently, following the case brought be a Belgian receptionist in Achbita v G4S Secure Solutions. The case was reported as supporting a ban on headscarves, but the actual outcome was slightly more complicated than that.
Day v Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust & Health Education England (2017)
The Court of Appeal has decided that Health Education England may yet be liable for whistleblowing claims brought by junior doctors, in the high profile case of Day v Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Trust & Health Education England (2017).
Newsflash: Next Steps on the Five Year Forward View – Technology and Innovation
The Next Steps review acknowledges that technology underpins all of the major NHS work programmes.