Todo:2018

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Dec 2018: Gazette - Blavo director ordered to pay £22m over legal aid claims
Dec 2018: BBC - Daughter cleared of letting mum die covered in faeces in Didcot "Emma-Jane Kurtz, of Blackwater Way, Didcot, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Oxford Crown Court in April. Her 79-year-old mother Cecily Kurtz's body was found in 2014 "covered from head to toe" in excrement, police said. But the conviction was quashed at the Court of Appeal, with judges ruling it had not been proved the elderly woman could not make her own decisions."
Dec 2018: Mail - MPs to investigate the scandal of youngsters with autism and learning disabilities being locked up like criminals in psychiatric units
Dec 2018: BBC - Muckamore Abbey seclusion room was 'dark dungeon'
Dec 2018: BBC - Psychiatric nurse jailed for patient punch "A psychiatric nurse who broke a patient's nose when he punched him three times has been given a nine-month prison sentence. Patrick Maguire, from Tollymore Brae in Newcastle, admitted causing actual bodily harm to the male mental health patient."
Dec 2018: Revealed: Fake NHS psychiatrist who worked for 22 years with a bogus degree PASSED new 'strengthened' tests just five years ago "Health chiefs worry Zholia Alemi, 56, worked as a bogus psychiatrist for the NHS"
Dec 2018: BBC - Why did Rachel Johnston die after having all her teeth removed? "A disabled woman died after having all her teeth removed by a dentist at an NHS trust criticised for its "drastic" full extractions from other vulnerable patients."
Dec 2018: Guardian - ‘She was unrecognisable’ – families warn of antipsychotic drug effects Coroners urge health secretary to ensure that clozapine, linked to two deaths, does not claim more lives
Nov 2018: Daily Record - Carstairs bosses told 'get your house in order' as crisis over safety and security deepens
Nov 2018: BBC - 'Black cab rapist' John Worboys to stay in prison
Nov 2018: BBC - Zholia Alemi: Foreign doctor checks after fake psychiatrist case
Nov 2018: Gazette - Ex-solicitor stole from elderly clients suffering severe dementia "Paul Arscott, from Hove, was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday."
Nov 2018: Guardian - Mental health hospital admissions linked to cocaine use treble in 10 years
Nov 2018: ECHR Blog - Minimalist Compliance in the UK Prisoner Voting Rights Cases Hirst v UK
Nov 2018: Guardian - Shock therapy: court upholds appeal by patients prescribed ECT against their will Victorian judgment said patients’ human rights had been undermined
Oct 2018: Gazette - Munby troubled by Court of Protection cases being 'transferred up' "Desperate parents are persuading less senior judges to transfer Court of Protection cases higher to force public authorities to act - a practice that the former president of the family division finds 'deeply troubling'."
Oct 2018: BBC - Pioneering CJD treatment to be used on British patient
Oct 2018: BBC - Dad of autistic girl sees off Walsall Council gag order "A father has seen off a council's bid to secure a gagging order stopping him from speaking out about his daughter's treatment in a psychiatric unit. Bethany, 17, who has autism and extreme anxiety, has been locked in a seclusion room for almost two years."
Oct 2018: BBC - Oliver's legacy: MPs to debate learning disability petition
Oct 2018: News and Star - Workington NHS worker jailed for faking the will of an elderly patient "A psychiatrist working for the NHS in Cumbria has been convicted of faking a will in a bid to inherit the elderly widow's £1.3m estate. At Carlisle Crown Court, Dr Zholia Alemi - who was employed by the NHS Memory Matters dementia service in Workington - had denied three fraud allegations and two thefts."
Oct 2018: New York Times - Congratulations. Your Study Went Nowhere
Oct 2018: Scotsman - Woman wins £80k in damages from man cleared of raping her
Oct 2018: Mail - Father of autistic child locked in 12ft room and fed through a hatch after being sectioned for 21 months wins court battle after council tried to GAG him from talking about her "Jeremy, 50, won a fight against Walsall Council over his right to talk about his daughter Bethany who has been locked in a secure unit for 21 months"
Oct 2018: Mirror - Autistic woman 'pimped out for sex with strangers' because carers wanted her to 'learn from her mistakes' The vulnerable woman was being provided 24-hour support at a care home in Manchester
Oct 2018: BBC - Child mental health referrals up 26% in five years, says report
Oct 2018: Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Texas hospital must keep girl on life support, appeals court says
Oct 2018: Guardian - Newly discharged mental health patients at much higher risk of death "Such patients are 90 times more likely to die from drugs overdose than general population, research finds"
Oct 2018: BBC - NHS 'could have prevented' road rage death "Matthew Daley, 35, killed Donald Lock on the A24 in Findon, near Worthing, in 2015 after the 79-year-old ran into the back of Daley's vehicle. In the report, NHS England said Daley did not receive proper treatment for his psychotic behaviour. Sussex Partnership NHS Trust apologised and admitted it "got things wrong"."
Oct 2018: Eastern Daily Press - Daughters lose damages case over ‘bolt-gun’ murder of fitness instructor
Sep 2018: CQC - Sexual safety on mental health wards
Sep 2018: Court of Protection: London Borough of Lambeth v MCS & Anor [2018] EWCOP 20^B (31 August 2018)
Sep 2018: Economist - Why are so many teenage girls appearing in gender clinics? "A new paper suggests this may be partly a social phenomenon"
Sep 2018: BBC - Poole carer who shouted abuse at dementia sufferer sentenced "A carer who shouted abuse at an elderly woman with dementia and pushed soiled clothes towards her face has been given a suspended sentence. Susan Hind was caught on CCTV installed in the home of 78-year-old Martha Davison in Poole, Dorset."
Sep 2018: Court of Protection: The London Borough of Enfield v Matrix Deputies Ltd & Anor [2018] EWCOP 22^B (24 September 2018)
Sep 2018: Carehome.co.uk - Care minister 'committed' to green paper this Autumn but don't mention the 'B-word'
Sep 2018: Court of Protection: SH, Re [2018] EWCOP 21^B (17 September 2018)
Sep 2018: Liverpool Echo - Carer caught masturbating in dementia-sufferer's room claimed he had an itch "The pervert working at a nursing home said he was scratching himself after wishing the OAP goodnight"
Sep 2018: Court of Protection: London Borough of Lambeth v MCS & Anor [2018] EWCOP 14^B (31 August 2018)
Sep 2018: IMH Blog (Nottingham) - Community Treatment Orders and Conditional Discharge in the Court of Appeal - Maybe overtaken by events and no need to add.
Sep 2018: Wales Online - Nurse struck off for 'having sex with vulnerable mental health patient' "Alec James Wallbank had sex with a patient in a B&B after she was discharged, the panel found, and continued to treat her after a suicide attempt "his actions had contributed towards"."
Aug 2018: Guardian - More than 200 suicides recorded at mental health units over seven years "Care Quality Commission figures show overall number falling but more women have begun taking their own lives than men"
Aug 2018: Gazette - Tribunal rejects 'fantastical' conspiracy claim as it bans dishonest solicitor "Drakens Ejovi Mukoro, admitted in January 2011, was found by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to have claimed more than £11,000 from the Legal Aid Agency for purported first tier mental health tribunals between September 2011 and May 2015. The tribunal heard that investigators found 15 matters where hearings had not taken place as described in the files. Mukoro’s firm, south London practice Gans & Co Solicitors, has already paid £176,000 back to the Legal Aid Agency for hearings where files could not be located."
Aug 2018: Mail - CPR ruling if mother of eight in vegetative state stops breathing
Aug 2018: Local Government Association - Ordinary residence guide: determining local authority responsibilities under the Care Act and the Mental Health Act "This guide is applicable to all adults whose care is commissioned in an area that is different from where they hold ordinary residence, including those whose services are governed by the Mental Health Act."
Aug 2018: Guardian - Children forced to travel hundreds of miles for NHS mental health treatment "Exclusive: NHS England figures reveal some under-18s sent as far as 285 miles for inpatient services"
Jul 2018: BBC - Seni's law: Commons approve mental health unit reforms
Jul 2018: BBC - Nurse jailed for raping patient at east London hospital "A mental health nurse who raped a patient has been jailed for 15 years. Mohamed Kamara, 47, raped the woman while working at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, on 15 May 2017."
Jul 2018: Independent - Dying man with brain injury has sperm extracted in bid to allow wife to become pregnant
Jul 2018: Guardian - Woman killed herself after series of NHS trust errors, jury finds "Five key mistakes contributed to death of Sophie Payne, 22, in mental health unit, says jury"
Jul 2018: Joint Committee on Human Rights - Scheme safeguarding for people who lack mental capacity is broken "In a report published today examining the Law Commission's proposals to reform the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards scheme, the Joint Committee on Human Rights said the current system is broken and that urgent action is needed."
Apr 2018: Economist - An alarming rise in mental-health sectioning in Britain Fewer psychiatric beds and growing risk-aversion among doctors may be to blame
Apr 2018: Guardian - Sharp rise in self-harm reported by mental health units in England
Apr 2018: Independent - Sean Rigg: Five Metropolitan Police officers to face gross misconduct charges over mentally ill man's death
Apr 2018: Guardian - Dementia patients restrained with controversial techniques – report Methods such as raising bed bars and putting walking aids out of reach leave elderly people stressed, says government-funded research
Apr 2018: Court of Protection: Buckinghamshire County Council v RT [2018] EWCOP B12^B (23 April 2018)
Apr 2018: BBC - Judge frustrated over mental health places A High Court judge has spoken of the problems finding beds for vulnerable young people with severe mental health problems in Wales. Mr Justice Francis, sitting in Cardiff, called it a 'growing problem'.
Mar 2018: The Argus - Man took £210k from ill mother’s account Gary Adams, from Burgess Hill, took the life savings of mum Dorothy, who was living with advanced vascular dementia, and father Ronald which was in a joint account on January 6, 2015 .
Mar 2018: Littlehampton Gazette - Littlehampton carer among two sentenced for laughing at patient in her care Wyn Ellis, 57, of St Mary’s Close, Littlehampton, was convicted of neglect following a day-long trial after she was filmed laughing at the patient who was unable to stand as she struggled to free herself. Another carer Danny Dias, 57, of Lindfield Copse, Thakeham, admitted ill-treating the woman patient after using a cable to bind her feet together and filmed her falling on the floor.
Mar 2018: Oxford Mail - Jury at Oxford Crown Court finds Emma-Jane Kurtz of Didcot guilty of neglect
Mar 2018: Guardian - Hundreds of mental health patients died after NHS care failures Guardian investigation finds 271 highly vulnerable patients died between 2012 and 2017 after 706 failings by health bodies
Mar 2018: Wales Online - 'Nine months of hell' of health workers found not guilty of neglect or ill-treatment of Cefn Coed patient Fiona Riley and Nicola Scott still face a health board investigation, however
Mar 2018: BBC - Southern Health fined £2m over deaths of two patients Connor Sparrowhawk, 18, drowned in Oxford in 2013. Teresa Colvin, 45, died in Hampshire in 2012. Southern Health admitted to "systemic failures" and pleaded guilty in 2017 to breaching health and safety laws.
Mar 2018: Care Appointments - Couple concerned about relative’s dementia care lose case to disclose details Mr Justice Hayden ruled against the couple on Wednesday after analysing competing arguments at a hearing in London.
Mar 2018: HSJ - Family of hospital attacker reveals 'dispute' over NHS England investigation The stepdaughter of a man who attacked and killed two patients on a hospital ward was told the national review of the incident was held up by a “dispute” over its terms of reference. Rita Martin, who cared for her stepfather Harry Bosomworth, who had paranoid schizophrenia, also said in her only interview that key facts had been overlooked by the local investigation into the incident in Leeds, revealed by HSJ earlier this week.
Mar 2018: Guardian - Letters - Mental healthcare failings kill The lack of statutory enforcement and oversight of safety recommendations reported by coroners is putting lives at risk, says Deborah Coles of Inquest, and Sushila Dhall writes how a now dismantled system saved her life
Mar 2018: Guardian - Damning report finds ‘serious failings’ in NHS mental health services Analysis of complaints about care reveals ‘devastating toll’ of suffering and avoidable deaths
Mar 2018: Community Care - ‘AMHPs are being left to improvise solutions to system failures’ Approved mental health professionals voice concerns over state of crisis mental health care, as CQC report confirms lack of inpatient beds remains “biggest issue”
Feb 2018: Guardian - Court to hear case of banker kept alive against family's wishes Supreme court to rule on whether judges need to authorise withdrawal of life support care
Feb 2018: Court of Protection: London Borough of Brent v NB [2017] EWCOP 34^B (25 October 2017) On Bailii Feb 2018
Feb 2018: CBC - Doctors say he's dead. Jewish laws say he's alive. Can a hospital turn off life support? Ontario judge now tasked with deciding whether to continue life support for man deemed brain dead
Feb 2018: Guardian - Japanese woman sues government over forced sterilisation Estimated 16,000 people were sterilised without their consent under eugenics law
Feb 2018: Mail - Judge threatens female ex-footballer, 23, who has tried to commit suicide three times over her debilitating bladder disease with JAIL if she 'inconveniences' the public again
Feb 2018: Oxford Mail - Oxfordshire hospital in legal battle to end patient's life A HIGH Court judge has ruled that a severely brain damaged patient being treated by doctors at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust should be allowed to die. Mr Justice MacDonald
Feb 2018: Guardian - Woman jailed for arson 'killed herself after staff failed to monitor her' Jury finds failure of HMP New Hall to implement suicide monitoring process a ‘key factor’ in Emily Hartley’s death
Feb 2018: Gov.uk - Power of attorney fee refund scheme launched All those eligible for a partial refund on their power of attorney fees can apply from today (1 February 2018).
Feb 2018: BBC - Schizophrenia patients calmed by video game
Feb 2018: Irish Times - Psychiatric hospital had no legal authority when it prevented patient leaving Court finds Dublin hospital was motivated by ‘best considerations’ when it restrained voluntary patient’s departure
Feb 2018: Buzzfeed - A Chain Of Private Psychiatric Hospitals Has Been Accused Of Failing Vulnerable Young Patients The Cygnet Health Care chain of hospitals has been found to have taken inadequate steps to ensure a safe and satisfactory environment by official inspection reports. These parents agree something is wrong.
Feb 2018: BBC - Psychosis patients 'not getting best care'
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: DMM, Re (Alzheimer's : power of attorney) [2017] EWCOP 32^B (26 July 2017
Jan 2018: Parole Board - Parole Board information on Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners (ISPs) This is a brief summary on how the Parole Board make decisions on ISP parole reviews
2018: Marine A EWCA decision
Jan 2018: Gazette - Court of Protection deputy misappropriated £170k from client accounts An experienced Court of Protection solicitor has been banned after making improper transfers from the accounts of vulnerable clients. Susan Louise Lowe attempted to blame others for her misconduct but was found to have acted dishonestly following a two-day hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last month.
2018: Maybe add: Finnerty, R v [2016] EWCA Crim 1513^B (14 October 2016)
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: Various Incapacitated Persons, Re (Appointment of Trust Corporations As Deputies) [2018] EWCOP 3^B (25 January 2018)
Jan 2018: Gazette - MoJ put on notice by information commissioner The Ministry of Justice has become the first central government department to be served with an enforcement notice by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It was rapped over the knuckles last month for delays in responding to ‘subject access requests’ - inquiries by individuals on data held about them.
2018: LAA, 'Civil/crime news: list of individuals excluded from contract work' (26/4/18)
2018: NMC - Lucia Ndoro
2018: Final Government Response to the Law Commission's review of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and Mental Capacity:Written statement - HCWS542
2018: SRA - Ros Dunning - and Gazette article
Jan 2018: Guardian - Transgender woman in male prison ‘nightmare’ on hunger strike
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: DMM, Re (Alzheimer's : marriage : power of attorney ) [2017] EWCOP 33^B (2 October 2017)
Jan 2018: BBC - Liverpool jail's severely ill inmates at substantial risk, says psychiatrist Severely ill inmates at Liverpool prison often wait days to be seen due to poor mental healthcare and a lack of staff, a senior psychiatrist has said.
2018: GRAHAM AGAINST HER MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE [2018] ScotHC HCJAC_57 (02 October 2018) URL: http://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotHC/2018/[2018]_HCJAC_57.html
2018: LAA, 'Civil news: medical report information and mental health claims' (1/6/18)
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: P, Re (Mental Capacity Act 2005 : best interest test) [2017] EWCOP B26^B (31 May 2017)
2018: Consultation: Safety and security arrangements in high security psychiatric hospitals
Jan 2018: Mail - Serial killer who was TWICE released to kill again is jailed for 26 years as family of third victim from whom he hid his bloody past accuse him of 'playing the system'. 64-year-old has twice been convicted of manslaughter over wife killings. Theodore Johnson, 64
2018: CQC to review the use of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation for people with mental health problems, a learning disability and/or autism Published: 3 December 2018
2018: ADASS, 'Guidance and principles for aftercare services under s117' (16/1/18)
2018: Parole Board, 'Form: Decision Summaries' (21/5/18). "Members of the public can request summaries of parole decisions using this form."
2018: SH, Re [2018] EWCOP 21^B (17 September 2018)
2018: Mind Legal Newsletter, June 2018
Jan 2018: Guardian - Law Society urges end to enforced medical treatment of vulnerable people Treatment without consent for up to six months of people sectioned under Mental Health Act may breach human rights
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Local Health Board v Lewis [2017] EWCOP 31^B (3 August 2017)
2018: Court of Protection, Civil Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Fees (Amendment) Order 2018
2018: Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures 2017-18 https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-act-statistics-annual-figures/2017-18-annual-figures
2018: Conroys, 'care and treatment reviews – what are they and how can they help me?'
Jan 2018: Telegraph - Elderly dying amid NHS wrangles over who pays for care, PAC warns
Jan 2018: BBC - Doctors wouldn’t let my sister die In 2009, Polly Kitzinger was in a car crash that left her with devastating brain injuries. Her sister, Jenny, says Polly would have preferred not to have had the medical interventions that kept her alive, but her family was unable to persuade doctors to let her die. Jenny is now a passionate advocate of living wills, or "advance decisions".
Jan 2018: Guardian - Germany: Use of sand vests to calm children with ADHD sparks concern Experts divided over heavy weights adopted by 200 schools in Germany to curb students’ restlessness
2018: Blavo articles from Gazette - also maybe Legal Futures article
Jan 2018: Belfast Telegraph - Man accused of revealing information aired in Court of Protection could be jailed A High Court judge has analysed preliminary issues at a High Court hearing. Mr Justice Williams, who considered the case at a hearing in London on Tuesday, advised the man to seek legal advice. He said a follow-up hearing would be staged in the near future.
2018: The London Borough of Enfield v Matrix Deputies Ltd & Anor [2018] EWCOP 22^B (24 September 2018)
Jan 2018: Mail - How 18 psychiatric patients freed by one NHS Trust ALL went on to kill: Shocking death toll revealed after investigation into organisation that hired controversial doctor whose report led to decision to free black cab rapist Eighteen patients have killed after release from Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Spotlight turned on Oxleas during the furore over Black Cab rapist John Worboys
2018: TP v PRBP [2018] EWHC 2433 (Fam)^B (26 July 2018) ??
Jan 2018: BBC - Vulnerable witnesses 'denied help to give evidence' Scores of children and vulnerable people are being denied support to access justice in England and Wales due to a shortage of specialists, the victims' commissioner has warned.
2018: London Borough of Lambeth v MCS & Anor [2018] EWCOP 14^B (31 August 2018)
2018: T (A Child: Care Order: Beyond Parental Control: Deprivation of Liberty: Authority to Administer Medication) [2017] EWFC B1^B (5 January 2018)
Oct 2018: Court of Protection: The Public Guardian v DA & Ors [2018] EWCOP 26^M (5 October 2018)
Aug 2018: Court of Protection: Royal Borough of Greenwich v CDM [2018] EWCOP 15^M (29 June 2018)
Jul 2018: Court of Protection: A (A Patient, Now Deceased), Re (No 4) [2018] EWCOP 17^M (27 July 2018)
Apr 2018: Court of Protection: NHS Windsor And Maidenhead Clinical Commissioning Group v SP (Withdrawal of CANH) [2018] EWCOP 11^M (20 April 2018)
Mar 2018: Court of Protection: SHC NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group v LB & Anor [2018] EWCOP 7^M (28 March 2018)
Mar 2018: Court of Protection: JMK, Re [2018] EWCOP 5^M (13 March 2018)
Mar 2018: Court of Protection: The Secretary of State for the Home Department v Skripal [2018] EWCOP 6^M (22 March 2018)
Jan 2018: Court of Protection: KT & Ors, Re [2018] EWCOP 1^M (15 January 2018)