Care home owners seek to bar council officers from entering premises – Local Government Lawyer

Posted March 9th, 2017 in care homes, harassment, local government, news, quality assurance by sally

‘The owners of a care home have sought to bar Cornwall Council officers from entering its premises, claiming that the action was necessary to “protect service users from disruptive local officials”.’

Full story

Local Government Lawyer, 9th March 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Liverpool ‘lack of care’ home owners fined £80k over ‘dangerous, dirty’ conditions – BBC News

Posted March 7th, 2017 in care homes, costs, fines, news, quality assurance by sally

‘Two brothers who ran a care home where elderly residents lived in squalor have been fined more than £80,000.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th March 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tribunal starts hearing competition law action brought against Law Society – Legal Futures

‘The Competition Appeal Tribunal will today begin hearing a training provider’s claim that the Law Society acted anti-competitively by requiring law firms to buy its own training in order to maintain their Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) accreditation.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 8th November 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

BSB publishes Professional Statement Threshold Standard and Competences for barristers – Bar Standards Board

Posted September 21st, 2016 in barristers, press releases, professional conduct, quality assurance by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a revised version of the Professional Statement, which now includes the Threshold Standard and Competences. It sets out in more detail the skills, knowledge and attributes which barristers are expected to have on “day one” of being issued with a practising certificate.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 21st September 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Patient ‘lay dead’ in London A&E for ‘hours’ before being found – BBC News

Posted July 6th, 2016 in doctors, hospitals, news, nurses, quality assurance, standards, statistics by Mark L

‘A patient lay dead for up to four-and-a-half hours before being spotted at one of the busiest A&E departments in the country, inspectors have revealed. A review of North Middlesex University Hospital by the Care Quality Commission also found there were too few competent doctors who were able to assess and treat patients at night.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th July 2016

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Judge caps Law Society’s “disproportionate” £640k costs in defending competition claim – Legal Futures

‘The Law Society’s budgeted costs of £637,000 to defend the competition law action brought over its Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) are disproportionate and should be capped at nearly half of that, the president of the Competition Appeal Tribunal has ruled.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 24th June 2016

source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Neuberger urges debate over ethical implications of artificial intelligence – Legal Futures

‘The president of the Supreme Court last week called for a debate on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and for “greater prominence” for ethics in legal training.’

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Legal Futures, 20th June 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Families’ fury over ‘painfully slow’ progress after Winterbourne View scandal – Daily Telegraph

‘Families of the victims of the Winterbourne View care scandal have written to David Cameron accusing ministers of betrayal by leaving vulnerable disabled people at risk of abuse five years on.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 31st May 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Relatives campaign for ‘Robin’s law’ to oblige care homes to inform family if a loved one is ill – The Guardian

‘As a new inquest approaches into the death of their autistic sister, family continues to fight for a law to boost the rights of relatives.’

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The Guardian, 1st June 2016

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bar regulator has made “significant improvements”, says LSB’s report – Bar Standards Board

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has made “significant improvements” as a regulator since 2012-13, says the Legal Services Board (LSB)’s today in its Regulatory Standards Report for 2015-16 about the Bar regulator.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 10th May 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Dying pensioners admitted to hospital against their will, CQC report finds – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 9th, 2016 in consent, equality, health, hospitals, news, quality assurance, standards, statistics by sally

‘Dying elderly people are being admitted to hospital against their will and end of life care is not good enough, a Care Quality Commission study has found.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 8th May 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Risk-based approach to regulating the Bar: the regulator publishes its Framework, Index and Outlook – Bar Standards Board

‘The BSB is today publishing three documents about its approach to risk-based regulation.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 5th April 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Bar regulator unveils new three-year Strategic Plan for 2016-19 – Bar Standards Board

Posted March 23rd, 2016 in barristers, legal services, press releases, quality assurance by sally

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its new Strategic Plan for 2016-19 and its Business Plan for 2016-17.’

Full press release

Bar Standards Board, 22nd March 2016

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Judges should be able to decline ‘unfair’ QASA evaluations, SRA says – Legal Futures

Posted January 26th, 2016 in advocacy, judges, news, quality assurance, Solicitors Regulation Authority by sally

‘Judges should be able to opt out of assessing advocates under the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (QASA) if they believe it would be unfair, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 26th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

SRA asks: Are solicitors to blame for declining criminal advocacy standards? – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to research this year whether standards of criminal advocacy are declining and whether solicitors are to blame. As part of the research, the SRA said it would ask judges whether solicitor and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) advocates were “working beyond their level of competence”.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 8th January 2016

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Ofqual to toughen up re-marking of exams after rise in grade challenges – The Guardian

Posted December 11th, 2015 in appeals, examinations, news, quality assurance by sally

‘The exam regulator, Ofqual, has announced proposals to toughen up the re-marking of A-level and GCSE exams, after figures showed a further huge increase in the number of pupils and schools appealing against results.’

Full story

The Guardian, 10th December 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Care Quality Commission not yet an effective regulator, say MPs – BBC News

Posted December 11th, 2015 in health, news, quality assurance, reports, select committees by sally

‘The Care Quality Commission, the health watchdog in England, is “not yet an effective regulator”, MPs say.’

Full story

BBC News, 11th December 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

SRA to research competence of personal injury lawyers – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to launch a research project on the “competence” of personal injury lawyers, it has emerged.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 4th December 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Rise in mental health detentions shows ‘services are struggling’ – The Guardian

‘Mental health campaigners have expressed concern that detentions under the Mental Health Act have risen by almost 10% in England in the past year.’

Full story

The Guardian, 23rd October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

LSB: criminal advocacy reforms “should not be designed around” any particular group of lawyers – Legal Futures

Posted October 7th, 2015 in advocacy, barristers, criminal justice, news, quality assurance, solicitors by sally

‘It is important that government plans to enhance the quality of criminal defence advocacy in publicly funded cases “should not be designed around one particular professional group”, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has warned.’

Full story

Legal Futures, 7th October 2015

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk