Ruth advises a broad range of health and social care providers and commissioners in the public, private, and third sector on regulatory matters. She regularly advises on legal frameworks for treatment and detention of patients and application of the Mental Health Act 1983 and its interface with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. She represents commissioners and providers in planned and emergency applications to the Court of Protection for welfare and serious medical treatment.

Ruth supports providers in CQC compliance from registration, navigating regulatory scrutiny and well-led challenges, through to prosecutions. She also has expertise in regulatory due diligence and data protection law advising on a range of data challenges in the healthcare context and supporting providers to implement robust policies on data protection. 

Ruth is also an inquest advocate, chiefly representing mental health providers in complex and lengthy Article 2 inquests with juries. She has completed several lengthy secondments in both the NHS and independent sectors, working closely with organisations to support them on the ground.

Featured experience:

• Jointly representing the mental health and acute provider applicants in urgent Court of Protection proceedings concerning a pregnant woman detained under the Mental Health Act who required a caesarean section delivery under restraint

• Successfully supporting several individual registered managers with responses to PACE notices in contemplation of CQC criminal proceedings regarding incidents in social care settings leading to no further action

• Advising several NHS Trusts regarding their data management arrangements for surveillance technology instigated in mental health settings

• Undertaking a detailed pro-active governance review for a charity in the healthcare sector regarding their regulatory compliance and governance procedures