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 medical speakers.

Programme

Learning the lessons of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, Katie Gollop QC and Michael Mylonas QC
Katie represented GOSH in the Charlie Gard litigation and Michael acted for Alder Hey in the very recent Alfie Evans case.  No one is better placed to reflect on legal issues involved, the approach of the courts and the pressures of litigating these end of life cases in the full glare of the Twittersphere.

Vaccines and Consent, Professor Andrew Pollard
Andy is Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at Oxford University.  He leads the Oxford Vaccine Group which conducts studies on new and improved vaccines for children and adults.  In February 2018 he wrote in The Times: “Although it is convenient to lay sole blame at the door of anti-vaccine campaigners for the rise in measles cases and 35 deaths last year, the underlying story is more complicated. Marginalised individuals and communities, who have limited access to healthcare, are over-represented among the cases and need improved access to immunisation services.” Andy will speak on developments in vaccination, relying on herd immunity and the ethics of mandatory vaccination.

Getting it right SECOND time, Mr Tom Quick
Tom is a Consultant Peripheral Nerve Surgeon at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. He is known to many as a causation and quantum expert in brachial plexus injuries.  He is also very interested in improving standards in medicine generally and developing the principles of GIRFT (getting it right first time) so that clinicians learn from medical errors and negligence claims in order to improve standards overall.  He will share his thoughts on this developing area and is keen to develop a dialogue with lawyers in this important area.

Inquests, Ms Nadia Persaud
Nadia is a Senior Coroner and HM Coroner for the Eastern Area of Greater London.  We are delighted to welcome such an experienced coroner to reflect on current law and practice in the Coroner’s Courts, including what helps the coroner in an inquest, DOLS inquests, minimally invasive post-mortems and preventing future deaths reports.

Assessing risk and predicting violence, Professor Seena Fazel
Seena is Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Oxford University. He has a particular interest both in the assessment of suicide risk in prisoners and in understanding the contribution of the main neuropsychiatric conditions to violent crime.  His team have challenged some widely held beliefs (e.g. that epilepsy causes violence), addressed areas of considerable uncertainty (whether schizophrenia increases risk) and highlighted neglected areas of risk (bipolar disorder, depression, and head injury). They have clarified modifiable risk factors for violence risk. Seena’s talk will be of particular interest to those involved in claims where acts of violence are perpetrated by mental health patients.

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy, Mr Zahir Soonawalla
Zahir is a Consultant Hepato-Biliary and Pancreatic Surgeon in Oxford. He is an experienced expert witness in laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases and has published research on whether transection of the common bile duct should be assumed to be negligent.  He will explain the challenges of this common surgery which of course is fertile ground for negligence claims.

The cost is £250 + VAT per delegate. Please email Isabel Biggs  or fill in the form below to secure a place .