Every year Serjeants’ Inn joins forces with Oxford neurosurgeon Richard Stacey to organise this event for both claimant and defendant clinical negligence enthusiasts. We aim for an interesting mix of medical and legal talks and we will once again be offering a “speed dating” session after lunch with a more informal opportunity to ask questions of our speakers.

We are delighted to have assembled a stellar line up of speakers, fitting for our 10th anniversary and to be able to hold this conference in a new venue, the stunning Pembroke College, in the centre of Oxford and close to the railway station.

Making best interests decisions about life-sustaining treatment, Professor Jenny Kitzinger  (@JennyKitzinger)

Jenny co-directs the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre  at Cardiff University (www.cdoc.org.uk). She has conducted in-depth research into  serious medical decision-making on behalf of adults with devastating brain injuries – with a particular focus on the place of the patient’s prior expressed values and beliefs in intensive care, rehab centres and long-term care homes.  Along with Professor Celia Kitzinger she also developed the healthtalk.org module to provide information and support for families. In this session s he will look at developing case law and new guidance about clinically assisted nutrition and hydration and ask what role lawyers play in helping to shape patient pathways.

The Future of Eye Surgery, Professor Robert MacLaren

Robert is Professor of Ophthalmology at Oxford University and a pioneering eye surgeon. He is one of the first surgeons in the world to have made a successful retinal implant, the so-called ‘bionic eye’. In September 2016 he performed the world’s first robot-assisted operation inside the eye. He has said that with robotic systems a whole new chapter of eye surgery has now begun.

Prostate Cancer and Robotic Surgery, Mr Tom Leslie

Tom is an experienced Consultant Urological Surgeon and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Oxford University. He has a particular interest in managing prostate cancer and is at the forefront of the use of robotic surgery in managing prostate cancer.

Fertility and the Future, Professor Enda McVeigh

Enda is a Consultant and Sub-Specialist in Reproductive Medicine and Surgery. He was Medical Director and Lead Consultant in the Oxford Fertility Unit from 1999 to 2012. In 2011 he set up an IVF clinic network (Reproductive Partnership) which is now the largest in the UK. He is currently engaged in research in ovarian tissue cryopreservation for pre-pubertal and adolescent girls. Following the Court of Appeal’s recent decision to allow US surrogacy costs in XX v Whittington Hospital now is a good time to be hearing from a leading fertility expert about potential future developments in this field.

Managing Encephalopathy in the Neonatal Period, Dr Karen Luyt

Karen has been a Consultant Neonatologist in Bristol since 2004. She has a particular interest in intensive care and improving health outcomes in high risk infants. Practitioners are used to looking at brain injury cases through the prism of obstetric care and delays in delivery. Increasingly, and in the context of material contribution causation, it is important to look at neonatal care and whether there has been a contribution to brain injury from sub-standard management of hypoglycaemia, hypocarbia and hypoxia. Karen will help us with what to look for.

‘Cognitive complaints in clinical negligence cases: The good, the bad and the ugly’, Dr Ian Baker

Ian is a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist and Head of the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. He specialises in the neuropsychological assessment of adults with traumatic brain injury and neurological disease and is an experienced expert witness. With the help of a video presentation he will look at how neuropsychological assessment works and its value to lawyers in clinical negligence cases.

Darnley v. Croydon, Anthony Searle

Anthony is a barrister at Serjeants’ Inn. He will look at the Supreme Court decision in Darnley (brain injured man negligently discharged from A&E) including the issue of contributory negligence in clinical negligence cases.

The cost is £260 + VAT per delegate. To secure your place, please make your booking here.  If you have any queries or require further information in relation conference please email the Serjeants’ Inn Client Care team.