John Tingle

Establishing breach of the duty of care in the tort of negligence: 2

This article discusses the law surrounding breach of the duty of care in negligence. A mistake or error does not necessarily mean legal fault and negligence. Judges look at risks and benefits in determining what would have been the appropriate standard of care to be exercised in the circumstances and may decide that the defendants conduct was reasonable. There are a number of interrelated factors which judges have to balance and these can be categorized as foreseeability of harm, magnitude of risk, burden of taking precautions, utility of the defendants conduct and common practice.

Patient safety, law policy and practice

© 2011 editorial matter and selection: John Tingle and Pippa Bark. Patient safety is an issue which in recent years has grown to prominence in a number of countries’ political and health service agendas. The World Health Organization has launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety. Millions of patients, according to the Alliance, endure prolonged ill-health, disability and death caused by unreliable practices, services,and poor health care environments. At any given time 1.4 million people worldwide are suffering from an infection acquired in a health facility.Patient Safety, Law Policy and Practice explores the impact of legal systems on patient safety initiatives. It asks whether legal systems are being used in appropriate ways to support state and local managerial systems in developing patient safety procedures, and what alternative approaches can and should be utilized.The chapters in this collection explore the patient safety managerial structures that exist in countries where there is a developed patient safety infrastructure and culture. The legal structures of these countries are explored and related to major in-country patient safety issues such as consent to treatment protocols and guidelines, complaint handling, adverse incident reporting systems, and civil litigation systems, in order to draw comparisons and conclusions on patient safety.

The professional standard of care in clinical negligence

The general principle of law relating to breach of duty in the tort of negligence has been discussed during this series of articles. This article continues that discussion in relation to healthcare professionals such as nurses and doctors, and how the law affects their case. The issue of the expanded role of the nurse is also discussed.

Patient safety: the next 15 years

John Tingle discusses, in the first of a two-part column, a report from the NIHR Patient Safety Translational Research Centre on the priorities and direction that the patient safety movement should follow going towards 2030

Whistleblowers: heroes or villains?

John Tingle discusses a recent report by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts on whistleblowing and reflects on the forthcoming Francis Independent Review of Whistleblowing in the NHS.

The role of the Health Service Safety Investigations Body

John Tingle, Associate Professor (Teaching and Scholarship), Nottingham Trent University, discusses the draft Health Service Safety Investigations Bill, which will create a new body with far-reaching legal powers.

Managing the costs of clinical negligence within hospital trusts

John Tingle, Associate Professor (Teaching and Scholarship), Nottingham Trent University, discusses the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts Report on the escalating costs of clinical negligence in hospital trusts.

The State of Care report: patient safety in NHS acute hospitals

John Tingle, Reader in Health Law at Nottingham Trent University, discusses the Care Quality Commissions recently published report on the quality of hospital care in England.

Ensuring care quality at a time of diminishing resources

John Tingle, Reader in Health Law at Nottingham Trent University, discusses the Care Quality Commissions State of Health Care report, in the light of some important clinical negligence trends and reports on major safety failures.

Improving patient safety in the NHS: the culture change agents

John Tingle, Reader in Health Law at Nottingham Trent University, and Jen Minford, Junior Doctor Coordinator, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, look at the role of patient safety culture change agents in the NHS.