Lewis & Buchan Clinical Negligence: A Practical Guide – A Book Review

 by Brian Risman, Publisher and Founder, The Law Journal UK

Lewis & Buchan Clinical Negligence: A Practical guide is a comprehensive law text that covers the complex area of Clinical Negligence in a well organised, readable fashion. It is of great value to both students and practitioners.

Lewis & Buchan Clinical Negligence: A Practical guide is a detailed examination of the area of Clinical Negligence. It allows legal personnel at all levels to comprehend and understand this area, even going to the detail of giving standard examples and abbreviations of terms in medical records. It also gives a variety of clinical negligence scenarios, allowing the law student or practitioner to understand how to handle specific situations. For those students not familiar with the mechanics of the medical system, considerable effort is expended describing the structure and operation of the NHS, the UK public health care system.

Lewis & Buchan Clinical Negligence: A Practical guide also covers critical topics such as remedies -- legal and non-legal, the duty of care specifically related to doctor-patient relations (and even non-patient relations, such as emergency situations). Areas of tort law related to medical issues are covered in detail -- such as breach of duty and strict liability, causation and damage, foreseeability and remoteness, and of course negligence.

Issues of consent are covered, focusing on issues of life-sustaining treatment, as well as patients (adult and non-adult) without legal capacity.

Topics such as wrongful birth (such as failed sterilisation), The Congenital Disabilities Act 1976, psychiatric injury, and economic loss are also covered.

The book then deals with procedures to service of proceedings, and then from service to trial. The procedures regarding Inquests are covered in great detail. Limitation restrictions are also discussed. This is an invaluable section for any reader, given they are likely to need to deal with these processes.

Human rights issues are examined in terms of the European Conventions and the Human Rights Act 1998. Issues of cost of cases, and funding, which can affect the rights of the parties, are also discussed in detail.

This book is an excellent resource on a challenging topic -- one that covers many traditional areas of practice, but builds a strong connection to medical issues. Given the depth and breadth of the issues covered, the book remains well organised and coherent throughout.

For more information on purchasing this book, please click on the link below.

Lewis & Buchan Clinical Negligence: A Practical guide  is published by Bloomsbury Professional. Please note that The Law Journal UK takes no responsibility for the contents of this book, or works by other authors.

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Brian Risman

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