COVID-19 portal

Welcome to our COVID-19 Portal. Here you will find a summary of the legal changes implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alternatively, visit our news page, which also gives a range of advice to help you through the coronavirus pandemic. You can also access our webinars and podcasts.

Click here for accessibility options.

Contents

  1. COVID-19 public inquiry preparation webinars
  2. Healthcare and medical law
    a. Regulations
    b. Coronavirus Act 2020
    c. GMC guidance
    d. GOC guidance
    e. Guidance for GPs
    f. Guidance for dentists
    g. Other guidance
  3. Commercial
    a. Procurement and commissioning
    b. Contractual issues
    c. Employment
    d. Information governance
    e. Real estate
    f. Business closures and personal freedoms
  4. Social care
  5. Charities and Social Enterprise

COVID-19 public inquiry preparation webinars

  1. COVID-19 public inquiry: start preparing now
  2. COVID-19 public inquiry: public inquiries, an introduction

Healthcare and medical law

Regulations

  1. The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020
    • Revoked on 25 March 2020 by Schedule 21 of the Coronavirus Act 2020
  2. Regulation of notifiable diseases
  3. Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Coronavirus Act 2020

Royal Assent for the Coronavirus Act 2020 was received late 25 March 2020.

  1. Section 51/Schedule 21 – powers relating to potentially infectious persons
  2. Coronavirus indemnity – advice updated 6 April 2020
  3. Emergency volunteers – advice updated 22 May 2020
  4. Emergency registration of nurses and midwives – advice updated 22 May 2020
  5. Emergency registration of health and care professionals – advice updated 30 March 2020
  6. Temporary registration of social workers – advice updated 22 May 2020
  7. Managing the deceased – advice updated 27 March 2020
  8. Registration of deaths and stillbirths – advice updated 31 March 2020
  9. Coronavirus and the Mental Capacity Act – advice updated 31 March 2020
  10. Coronavirus and continuing healthcare – advice updated 31 March 2020
  11. Employment law & COVID-19: statutory sick pay – advice updated 25 March 2020
  12. Employment Law & COVID-19: pensions – advice updated 30 March 2020

GMC guidance

  1. General Medical Council guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic
  2. GMC re-registration
  3. PPE guidance: GMC and BMA position – advice updated 22 May 2020

GOC guidance

  1. General Optical Council guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic – summary updated 11 May 2020

Guidance for GPs

  1. The impact of COVID-19 on general practices: frequently asked questions
  2. Are GPs eligible for the new job retention scheme?
  3. Updates to furlough guidance – published 17 April 
  4. COVID-19 and annual leave
  5. COVID-19 employment law implications for your practice
  6. Summary of NHS England and improvement letters to GP practices

Guidance for dentists

  1. NHS Guidance for primary dental care – advice updated 22 May 2020
  2. The impact on the dental market
  3. The impact on the dental market – update 2
  4. The impact on the dental market – update 3
  5. The impact on the dental market – update 4
  6. Dental regulation in the shadow of COVID-19

Other guidance

  1. COVID-19 hospital discharge requirements
  2. NICE Guidelines on critical care referrals
  3. Newsflash: COVID-19 and critical care
  4. HMCTS telephone and video hearings during the COVID-19 outbreak
  5. NHS complaints during the pandemic
  6. COVID-19 and subject access requests
  7. Ethical dimensions of COVID-19 for front-line staff
  8. Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) guidance
  9. Hospital resources amid COVID-19: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v MB
  10. DNACPR orders and COVID-19
  11. Insurance scheme to provide cover for NHS staff who die from COVID-19
  12. Organ donation update – advice updated 4 June 2020
  13. COVID-19: key legal considerations arising from the pandemic, in conjunction with NHS Providers, October 2020

Commercial

Procurement and commissioning

  1. Temporary framework for state aid, measures to support the economy
  2. The government issues the first Procurement Policy Note of 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on procurement
  3. The government has issued its second Procurement Policy Note (PPN) on the impact of COVID-19 on procurement
  4. Stay safe when applying the COVID-19 response PPNs – published 3 July 2020
  5. NHS England empowered to commission COVID-19 Services

Contractual issues

  1. Frustration of contract and force majeure clauses in a pandemic
  2. Exemption to competition rules

Employment

  1. Coronavirus advice for employers – PPE
  2. Employee Retention Scheme (furlough leave) – advice updated 27 March 2020
  3. Furlough guidance – advice updated 7 April 2020
  4. Can charities access the Job Retention Scheme?
  5. Furlough guidance – advice updated 9 April 2020
  6. Furlough guidance – updated for charities and social enterprises – 16 April 2020
  7. COVID19, the employer and the self isolating member of staff 
  8. Implications for employers of lifting COVID-19 restrictions

Information governance

  1. ICO guidance – COVID-19

Real estate

  1. Commercial tenants – protection from eviction
  2. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Coronavirus) (England) (Amendment) Order 2020

Business closures and personal freedoms

  1. The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020

Social care

  1. Coronavirus and social care
  2. CQC registrations
  3. Employee Retention Scheme (furlough leave)
  4. COVID-19 future care planning
  5. Coronavirus and PPE: managing employment issues
  6. Visiting arrangements in care homes, Dec 2020

Charities and social enterprise

  1. Charity Commission guidance for charities regarding COVID-19
  2. Can a charity assist with efforts connected with COVID-19?
  3. Do the government’s announcements in relation to companies apply to charities and social enterprises?
  4. Can charities access the Job Retention Scheme?
  5. The impact of COVID-19 on charities and social enterprises, some FAQs answered
  6. Furlough guidance – updated for charities and social enterprises 16 April
  7. Frustration of contract and force majeure clauses in a pandemic
  8. Commercial tenants – protection from eviction
  9. The Government’s second Procurement Policy Note (PPN) on the impact of COVID-19
  10. Can a charity work with a company or business to help with COVID-19?

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