News

Must an equal pay claim be presented to an employment tribunal or can an employee choose to have it heard in the civil courts?  In a judgment delivered earlier this week, the Court of Appeal has ruled that employees can bring their claims in ...

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, on Wednesday set out the government’s proposals for a radical reform of UK employment laws, as the government published its response to the public consultation on “Resolving Workplace Disputes&rdquo...

Capsticks has successfully defended a mental health trust against a claim from a former employee that she was entitled to accrued holiday pay relating to years in which she was absent on sick leave. Martin Hamilton, head of the employment departme...

We expect primary care trusts ('PCTs') to be dissolved in 2013. Responsibility for the work currently carried out by PCTs will be transferred to other bodies. These new entities will include the National Commissioning Board and, of course, clinica...

Capsticks has won the award for Law Firm of the Year at the General Practice Awards 2011. The award recognises the work Capsticks has done over the last 12 months to help NHS commissioners and GPs prepare for changes to the healthcare commissionin...

The Department of Health has responded this week to the Co-operation and Competition Panel’s (CCP’s) Report on Any Qualified Provider. The CCP’s report, published in July, reviewed the implementation of patient choice and made 9 ...

On Thursday 10 November 2011 NHS Midlands and East, Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust and Circle completed a ground breaking project, establishing the first statutory franchise agreement in England.

Capsticks was very pleased to advise ...

Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings ('GH') was convicted of an offence of corporate manslaughter on 15 February 2011 following the death of an employee in 2008. The Court of Appeal has since refused GH leave to appeal against various aspects of the con...

An administrative worker in the public sector has become the first person to be convicted under the Bribery Act 2010 ('the Act'), which came into force on 1 July 2011. This prosecution demonstrates that employees at all levels of an organisation c...

The Department of Health ('DoH') has published its strategy to accelerate the release of public sector land to help local communities and the NHS.

The strategy follows t...

With the ever increasing financial pressures on healthcare bodies, many organisations are looking at whether savings can be made through adjusting the terms and conditions of their employees.

Wholesale changes to the terms and conditions o...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has announced that, with effect from 6 April 2012, the qualifying period for bringing a claim of unfair dismissal will be increased from one to two years.  This is the latest development in the...

On 1 October 2011, the Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2011 will come into force ('the 2011 Regulations'). The 2011 Regulations will amend the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and change the general time frame for bringi...

Capsticks has won the award for best legal team at the 2011 Independent Healthcare Association awards. The IHA awards is one of the main annual events for the private healthcare industry.

The award was made as a result of the growth, varie...

The EAT (Employment Appeal Tribunal) has recently provided useful guidance on the correct interpretation of TUPE where services provided post-transfer differ from services before the change of provider.

In Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Tr...

The Department of Health has published a briefing note on the arrangements for SHA clustering. Contact details for further enquiries are given at the end of this article.

Key features are:

SHA clusters will come into effect on 3 Oc...

In the recent case of Garside and Laycock Ltd v Booth, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has considered the question of whether an employer’s dismissal of an employee for failing to accept a reduction in pay...

The case of G v the Governors of X School ('G v X') concerned a teaching assistant, G, who was alleged to have committed an act of sexual misconduct with a 15 year old pupil. This led to disciplinary action against G ...

The High Court has confirmed that primary care trusts are entitled to terminate Personal Medical Services agreements on 6 months’ notice pursuant to the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services agreements)...

The case of Sheffield City Council v Norouzi involves a claim of race discrimination and harassment brought by an Iranian employee working as a resident social worker in a children’s care home.

One of the children in the care home re...

The risk of a syrinx, a cavity which develops within the spinal cord which can become filled with fluid and cause further significant disability, is a common feature of spinal injury claims and often forms the basis for a request that provisional ...

The Ministry of Justice has published a draft Defamation Bill and consultation. The draft Bill is intended to update and simplify the law of defamation, which is currently drawn from statutes and extensive case law. The key points which could be r...

The recent case of Bailey v R&R Plant has raised concerns for employers as it suggests that many notices of retirement which were issued prior to the abolition of the statutory retirement procedure in April this year may be procedurally defect...

Sharon Shoesmith was the Director of Children’s Services for Haringey Council at the time of the Baby P tragedy. Following an urgent OFSTED inspection and report, the Secretary of State Ed Balls removed Ms Shoesmith from her office as Direct...

The 7th July London Bombings inquest verdict and recommendations were announced on 6th May. Rob Wilson, a partner in Capsticks' inquest team has been advising the London Ambulance Service at the inquest which was one of the biggest to take pl...

When employees bring a discrimination case it is not uncommon for them to name, in addition to the employer, their line manager and/or other individuals as personally named Respondents. This is always a matter of concern for those named. The Emplo...

The Health and Social Care Act 2012

After more than 1,000 amendments, the Health and Social Care Bill has now received Royal assent.

The themes of organisational change; choice and competition; improving quality an...

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