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The Health and Social Care Act 2012 received royal assent on 27 March 2012. After one of the longest and most controversial progresses through the parliamentary process that anyone can remember, and after thousands of amendments to the wording of the legislation, all those involved in healthcare provision are left to assess the nature of the new NHS structure and regulatory regime. What remains of the government's policy of a fair playing field on which Any Qualified Provider can compete to provide NHS services? To what extent will the traditional sector boundaries become blurred as independent providers and existing NHS organisations directly compete for contracts with the new commissioning organisations? 

Extension of Article 2 application in the Rabone case is likely to increase the liabilities of NHS bodies for past and future suicides by informal patients and the scope of future inquests.

Design for success in healthcare M&A. The complex process of merging or acquiring healthcare Trusts and services.

Inside: The perils of integrated care. Solid foundations: Lord Philip Hunt Any Qualified Provider uncertainty

Clear guidance for health and social care professionals to avoid the unlawful detention of mentally incapacitated patients for mental disorder under the common law.

Previous decisions by the Information Commissioner have established that compromise agreements between public authorities and their departing employees are generally disclosable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), although the names of the employees and dates of the agreements can be withheld.

There was considerable publicity earlier this year about the case of M, who was left with extensive and irreparable brain damage following an illness in 2003. She is now in a minimally conscious state (MCS) and is cared for in a nursing home in the North of England. M is entirely dependant on others and her life is sustained through artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH).

Court of Protection judgment contains clear lessons for health and social care professionals and their legal advisers on how DOL decisions should be applied in practice...

A detailed breakdown of late term abortion statistics must be disclosed under FOIA - concerns about low cell counts misplaced as individuals very unlikely to be identified...

Avoid the pitfalls of procurement, EU regulations hold traps for the new NHS clinical commissioning groups.

Inside: Hinchingbrooke: a model for the future? The growing M&A culture in the NHS. Real estate gold mine.

Claire Selwood v Durham County Council, Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust

The claimant, CS, an employee of Durham County Council (DCC)  was attacked by GB, an informal patient of Tees Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) and Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW)...

Dr White v Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust and another. [2011] EWHC 825 (QB)

The High Court has confirmed that a letter notifying the General Medical Council ("GMC") of concerns about a doctor's fitness to practise was subject to absolute privilege and could not be the subject of defamation proceedings. Accordingly the doctor's claim for defamation was struck out and would not proceed to a full hearing.

R (on the Application of M) v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham [2011] EWHC Civ 77
 
This decision provides clarity to Mental Health providers and commissioners providing aftercare services under section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983...

This Alert from Beachcroft's Health team describes the changes proposed to the Mental Health Act 1983 as amended by the Health and Social Care Bill, which was put before Parliament on 19 January 2011...

On 22 February 2011, the US Supreme Court handed down its opinion in the case of Bruesewitz v Wyeth Inc. The court ruled by a 6-2 majority that vaccine manufacturers cannot be sued over claims of design defects in their products as Federal Law pre-empted the application of State Law.

This briefing gives a high level overview of the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 which will impact on local authorities...

The attached briefing gives a high level overview of the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 which will impact on the emerging market for NHS-funded healthcare services and individual providers in both the public and independent sectors. Many of these provisions have been trailed in detail in the White Paper Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS, the Government's response to consultation and other related publications. The Bill does, however, provide welcome clarity in relation to the Government's precise intentions with regard to certain of its proposals, and the Department of Health's accompanying impact assessments for the Bill spell out the distortions in the market which the Government is keen to address...

Information Commissioner upholds NHS Foundation Trust's view that FOI request was vexatious

Decision supports public authorities in drawing a line under long-running complaints

A recent decision of the Information Commissioner on the scope of the exemption in section 14 of the Freedom of Information Act (vexatious requests) will be helpful to public authorities dealing with highly persistent complainants...

This Issue contains details of the government views on the future for performers lists and recent substantive First-tier Tribunal decisions from October and November 2010...

This Issue contains details of recent substantive First-tier Tribunal decisions from August and September 2010, the notable points of which are set out below...