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Alison Brennan
Alison is a Principal Associate in the Liverpool healthcare team and qualified as a solicitor in 2010, joining Weightmans in 2012 and has dealt with clinical negligence claims across several specialist fields along with secondments to NHS Resolution.
Alison deals with a range of complex high value and sensitive claims, including addressing complex clinical issues in cases relating to spinal injuries, paediatrics, orthopaedic and gynaecology including baby deaths. In addition, her caseload includes high-value cases in spinal injury and stroke medicine, along with sensitive psychiatric and suicide claims.
Alison has a background in the health service as a nurse holding a dual qualification in paediatric and adult nursing. She has worked at a senior nursing level and therefore has significant knowledge and insight into the demands on the health service, along with a particular focus on clinical governance and patient safety. Alison remains committed to patient safety and continues to work with trusts, clinicians and teams to learn from and address patient safety issues through presentations and discussing specific topics, along with organising large events on this subject. She is also regularly instructed to assist trusts with complex complaints and serious incident investigations, taking a thorough, open and transparent approach in the way that she works with clinicians and liaising with families including other stakeholders.
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Alison Joyce
Alison is a qualified solicitor and investigator providing consultancy services to healthcare and other organisations. She has extensive experience in the fields of:
- investigations (clinical and non-clinical)
- improvement
- corporate governance
- compliance`
- assurance
- policy development
Alison has many years experience of working with all types of healthcare providers in clinical and non-clinical governance and patient safety roles.
She has obtained the HSIB level 2 investigations qualification and am PSIRF trained, with a specialist interest in the application of these to ICBs and systems.
Alison is also a Clear ADR Accredited Mediator -
Ben Troke
Ben has 25 years’ experience working as a lawyer in the health and social care sector and is a Partner in our Leeds office.
Acting for health and social care providers and commissioners nationwide, including the NHS, local authorities and private sector, Ben has been rated as one of the leading Court of Protection lawyers in the country for more than a decade.
Ben's expertise covers issues of consent and mental health and mental capacity/best interests decision making, both for adults and children, as well as wider issues around delayed or disputed discharges, deprivation of liberty, safeguarding, confidentiality and duty of candour. Ben routinely deals with out of hours and emergency issues about medical treatment, including urgent court applications.
Ben has a masters' degree in medical law and ethics, and is also a qualified mediator, with a particular interest in the use of mediation to resolve medical treatment disputes outside court.
Ben is the author of “A Practical Guide to the Law of Medical Treatment Decisions” (Law Brief Publishing), published in September 2020, and “A Practical Guide to the Law on Deprivation of Liberty”, due to be published late in 2023.
Ben is often quoted or published in the health and social care sector press. He has a decade of experience of sitting on the clinical ethics committee of a large acute NHS trust, is a current member of the Law and Ethics Policy Unit of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, and the Mental Health and Disability specialist committee of the Law Society, as well as a role as a Research Associate to the Essex Autonomy Project. In 2021 Ben was awarded a commendation by the Dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine for his contribution to the profession.
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Jo Haswell
After completing a Law degree at University College London, Jo qualified as a Barrister in 1998 and received a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from City University.
Jo started InPractice in 2001 with Kate Hill and has been involved in developing training courses for healthcare professionals ever since.
Jo is an experienced trainer, with a particular interest in human factors and investigating patient safety incidents and complaints. She also provides independent investigation services to the NHS and private healthcare providers.
Jo has co-authored a web based training programme on consent and has written numerous articles on healthcare Law for both the national and specialist press.
She is also a parent founder of Forest Bridge School in Maidenhead (www.forestbridgeschool.org.uk) which is a special needs school for pupils on the Autistic Spectrum.
Jo lives with her teacher husband, son James and two rescue cats called Linen and Fleur. Jo is a fan of Salt and Vinegar crisps and Sauvignon Blanc.
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Kate Hill
Kate Hill is a medical law and ethics specialist with a background in clinical negligence. She worked for a leading law firm for 25 years representing health and social care professionals at Coroners Court and advising NHS Trusts and Private providers on policy and procedure, particularly in the risk management arena. Kate was one of the legal advisors in the reported case of Bloom.
She has particular expertise in Complex Systems, Systems Thinking, Human Factors, Mental Health and Mental Capacity, Deprivation of Liberty, information sharing, safeguarding, complaints management and consent to treatment (including in Clinical Trials).
Kate has been training on incident investigation for over 20 years as well as carrying out investigations for organisations.
She has been special advisor to NICE, sat on the National Advisory Group for Approved Clinician training and has written and contributed to a number of medico-legal text books.
Kate has provided training for thousands of professional organisations such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists, The British Orthopaedic Association, NHS England, The Royal College of Nursing and The British Medical Association and has trained across the globe in countries such as the United States of America, China, Argentina, Costa Rica, Malaysia and Estonia.
Kate is married to a Cornish farmer, likes dogs and prawn cocktail crisps
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Katie Viggers
Katie has worked as the Head of Legal Services at a mental health and learning disabilities NHS Trust in Surrey for the last 5 years. She has over 12 years’ experience in healthcare law.
Being Head of Legal Services has given her an in-depth and practical knowledge of how mental health Trusts operate. She understands the issues and pressures faced by frontline clinicians.
Katie has particular expertise in the areas of mental health law, mental capacity law and Inquests.
Katie is married with two young boys. She likes netball, bike rides with her family and good coffee.
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Philippa Slinger
Philippa Slinger is a highly experienced NHS England Regional Director, Integrated Systems Leader, NHS Trust Chief Executive, NHS Improvement Director and private sector Managing Director.
