‘Jonathan Montgomery’s inaugural lecture as Professor of Health Care Law argues that the ‘patient’ is no longer the main concept that defines the subject and organises its doctrines. His earlier work suggested that focus on the doctor-patient relationship had blinded commentators to important issues and allowed only a partial account of the roles of the law. Recent case law confirms that other paradigms are becoming important. The use of human rights arguments makes the immediate health care context less relevant. This feature is amplified by increasingly common permission for ’intervenors’ to make submissions showing how individual cases are linked to wider issues. This in turn is an example of a wider trend – the increasing use of health care litigation by groups and corporate bodies – which further dilutes the role of the ‘patient’ as an organising concept for the law. In the face of these developments, many of the reasons for traditional judicial protection of clinical freedom in English health care law ebb away. It is therefore not surprising that the courts are seeking to redefine their roles in regulating health care. If the patient is no longer the central concern of health care law, then it is appropriate that judges are less patient with the idea that there might be lowered scrutiny for health professional s compared to those working in other areas.’
Date: 30th October 2014, 6.00-7.00pm
Location: UCL Law Faculty, Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens, London WC1H 0EG
Charge: Free, registration required
More information can be found here.
