Content by Katie McFarlane

Those practising in the field of noise induced hearing loss (“NIHL”) will be familiar with the Coles, Lutman and Buffin Guidelines 2000 (“CLB Guidelines”) and the later Lutman, Coles and Buffin Guidelines 2015 (“LCB Guidelines”) published to assist medical and legal practitioners in the diagnosis and quantification of hearing loss, respectively. In February 2022, a…

This blog looks at Functional Neurological Disorder (“FND”): what it is, how it is diagnosed, what medico-legal issues arise, and potential treatments. What is FND? FND is an umbrella term which can cover a whole spectrum of symptoms that do not arise as a consequence of neurological pathology. Historically, what we now call FND has…

A heavyweight Court of Appeal, comprising the Master of the Rolls, the Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and Nicola Davies LJ has handed down judgment in the conjoined appeals of Paul v Wolverhampton NHS Trust; Polmear v Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust; Purchase v Ahmed [2022] EWCA Civ 12 (referred to, together,…

The question of who can claim for “nervous shock” is upon us again. The issue is one which has periodically ventured as far as the House of Lords, since the decision in Bourhill v Young [1943] AC 92 and, following the decision of the Court of Appeal in the conjoined cases of Paul v Royal…

In March, as part of the Ropewalk Chambers’ Spring Webinar series, Philip Turton and Katie McFarlane reviewed the law relating to secondary victims in light of the decisions in Paul v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2020] PIQR P19 and Polmear v Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust [2021] EWHC 196 (QB). The webinar can be viewed…

Presented by Philip Turton and Katie McFarlane, this webinar is a review of recent case law and developments in relation to claims for injury brought by secondary victims. Agenda To view the recording of this webinar, please click here.

On 16 December 2020, Martin Spencer J handed down judgment in Young v Downey [2020] EWHC 3457 (QB), an interesting decision on secondary victims in nervous shock cases. In this blog post, Philip Turton and Katie McFarlane summarise and review the decision, which can be read here. Preamble Where a person suffers psychiatric as well as physical…

Since the pandemic, the issue of covert recordings of medical examinations has risen to the fore following the drastic increase in use of technology to deliver patient care (telephone consultations, video consultations), making covert recording easier than ever before. It is therefore relevant to revisit the most recent authority on the admissibility of covert recordings…