Legal News (Healthcare Law)

Aisling Malone answers nine key questions on the 'whistle-blowers' legislation.

Since 31 March 2015, it is obligatory for all health professionals providing cross-border healthcare in the State under the Cross-Border Directive to have professional liability insurance (Regulation 15, European Union (Application of Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, SI No. 65/2015).

On 9 July 2015, Ms Justice Iseult O’Malley ruled that an acutely ill and profoundly disabled 10 year old girl who resides in state care should not be resuscitated or receive emergency lifesaving intervention. The girl has been resident in state care since she was admitted to hospital with serious brain damage aged 4 months.

In a report on the cost of medical indemnity insurance published in June this year, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children (the Committee) identified key concerns and made recommendations to the Ministers for Health and Justice, the HSE and other stakeholders.

Following a recent landmark decision in the matter of Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, handed down by the UK Supreme Court on 11th March 2015, Alison Kelleher and Sharon McCauley highlight the key findings for healthcare professionals.

The office of ombudsman Peter Tyndall recently applied to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for an extension of its jurisdiction to encompass matters concerning clinical judgment.