Shared Insights round-up: Summer 2024

Welcome to the summer edition of our Shared Insights newsletter.

We are excited to reveal our Shared Insights Autumn Programme of forthcoming events, which includes a special inquest session with the new Chief Coroner of England and Wales, Her Honour Judge Alexia Durran, on 9 September. Please do take a look at the programme and share it with any health and care colleagues who may be interested in joining us.

Shared Insights Autumn programme

Between April and June, we held six Shared Insights sessions, each with an average attendance of over 150 health and care professionals from various organisations across the independent and public sectors. Each session focussed on a different topical issue and we heard from some fantastic guest speakers, who provided valuable insights and sparked engaging discussions. All of the sessions received positive feedback from delegates – our most recent Maternity and Neonatal Safety session was highly praised for being “packed with rich information” and delivered by “knowledgeable and passionate” speakers. Every delegate who provided feedback said they would attend another Shared Insights event, and the majority said that the sessions would influence their practice in the future. 

In this newsletter, you will find notes and resources from our recent events, as well as updates from across the health and care sector to help keep you informed.

We would love to hear your ideas and suggestions for future events, so please get in touch and share your thoughts with us.

Previous Shared Insights sessions and related resources

Coroners and inquests

Preparing and delivering organisational learning evidence in the coroner’s court, 16 April 2024

During this session we explored the coroner’s statutory duty to make a Prevention of Future Death (PFD) report. We gave practical tips on preparing organisational learning evidence, to assure the coroner that learning has been identified and embedded following a death. The session was chaired by two of our experienced inquest Partners, Nicola Evans and Simon Tait, and we were joined by Mara Tonks, Director of Midwifery at University Hospitals of Northampton NHS Group and Susan Jevons, Senior Quality Manager at East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Read the note

Coroner's Question Time, 25 June 2024

We held our popular Coroner's Question Time towards the end of June, featuring a panel of three experienced coroners – Mrs Debbie Rookes, Assistant Coroner for the County of Dorset and Assistant Coroner for Avon, Miss Louise Pinder, Acting Senior Coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire and Assistant Coroner in Derby and Derbyshire and Mr Zak Golombeck, Area Coroner for Manchester City. We were joined by over 150 NHS and social care professionals, and the panel shared their insights on matters such as the role of families and lawyers at inquests and independent expert evidence.

Read the note

Mock inquest training sessions, September – October 2024

Our virtual mock inquest training course is returning this autumn. Split over 6 modules, this course is delivered by a range of legal experts and includes insights and mock inquest scenarios involving Dr Nina Lewis, Medical Examiner and five experienced Coroners. The course covers the inquest process from start to finish and provides practical advice and guidance on reporting deaths and certification, writing reports for the Coroner and giving oral evidence in court or remotely. The course is aimed at practising clinicians and any health and care professionals who want a greater understanding of the inquest process.

The cost of this course per delegate is £55 +VAT per module or £275 +VAT for all six module.

Find out more

Justice Committee’s inquiry into the coroner service halted – so what next?

In November 2023, the Justice Committee launched a new inquiry into the coroner service for England and Wales, calling for evidence from anyone involved in or affected by the service. We held a special Shared Insights event about this inquiry in December 2023.

However, the recent general election has disrupted the inquiry, and the Justice Committee is no longer able to produce its planned report on the coroner service. The outgoing Chair of the Justice Committee has however written to the Minister for Courts and Legal Services, setting out the Committee’s findings so far.

Read more

Browne Jacobson inquest page

Don’t forget, we have a range of resources available on our website to assist organisations in dealing with inquests. In particular, we have a number of guides to help navigate you through the coronial process from start to finish.

Inquest resources

Patient safety and duty of candour

The government’s duty of candour review, 7 May 2024

In May 2024, we hosted a special Shared Insights session on the government’s review of the statutory duty of candour for health and social care providers in England. This was chaired by Carl May-Smith, a Partner and Barrister specialising in regulatory law. Based on the views expressed by the 69 delegates at the forum, we prepared a comprehensive response to the Department of Health and Social Care, which was then submitted.

Read our response

Focus on the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), 14 May 2024

Following on from previous Shared Insights on PSIRF, this session focused on governance and assurance issues. The session was chaired by Amelia Newbold, Risk Management Lead and Katie Viggers, Professional Development Lawyer and we were delighted to be joined by Andrew Coburn, Assistant Director of Legal, Governance and Mental Health Legislation at Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Deborah Dodge, Patient Safety Specialist at Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB.

Read the note

Focus on maternity and neonatal safety, 9 July 2024

This session focussed on insights from our experience of supporting maternity staff through high profile maternity inquests and complex and high-value maternity claims. We looked at how to ensure that there is accountability and openness with families in an environment which supports staff when things sadly go wrong. The session was chaired by Amelia Newbold, Risk Management Lead and Sian Brown, Partner in our specialist maternity division. They were joined by Bridget Prosser, Partner in our employment team and we were also delighted to hear insights from experienced professionals working in maternity services, including Sarah Noble, Director of Midwifery at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, and Julie Shaw, Maternity Investigations Team Leader (Midlands & East Central North) from the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI).

Read the note

Browne Jacobson Maternity Services Resources Hub

Our Maternity Services Resources Hub is a unique facility providing free resources and training materials to help maternity services improve and follow best practice. It includes support, advice and a number of training guides and videos for staff attending inquests.

Visit our hub

Healthcare data

Strategies for handling cyber attacks and data breaches, 13 June 2024

The recent cyber attack on two prominent London Hospitals has brought to light the importance of understanding the potential consequences of data breaches and what can be done to prevent them. This Shared Insights session, hosted by Browne Jacobson Partners Charlotte Harpin and Matthew Alderton and Senior Associate Heather McKay, enabled a timely exploration of three scenarios that many organisations face and what can be done to mitigate the adverse effect of data breaches in the health and care sector.

Read the note

Challenges faced by care organisations in responding to subject access requests

In this article, we explore why access to personal information from the care system is so important to many individuals, and the challenges in accessing and handling personal data.

Read more

Further resources

What can maternity and mental health services expect from a Labour government?

In these two articles, we look at the pledges made by the new Labour government in respect of maternity services and mental health services.

Plans for NHS maternity services

New Mental Health Bill

NHS England’s Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and supporting guidance

Find a variety of guidance documents on PSIRF on NHS England’s dedicated webpage.

PSIRF and supporting guidance

NHS Resolution’s Early Notification Scheme

Designed to achieve safer maternity care and provide a rapid, caring response to families in cases of severe harm, has a support page dedicated to NHS Trusts and member organisations. It includes links so you can find out everything you need to know, from what the EN scheme is, as well as useful information, FAQs and where you can find further information and support.

Early Notification Scheme support