What can I do for you?
I specialise in advising on corporate governance and commissioning arrangements for NHS bodies and NHS foundation trusts (including applications). I also have a particular interest in freedom of information and data protection.
My contractual work ranges from commissioning contracts for the provision of health services from other NHS bodies or private sector providers, to statutory partnership agreements for joint working between NHS bodies and local authorities for the delivery of integrated services, to the more straightforward contracting for the supply of goods and services from the private sector to the NHS. My work also includes advising on contracts for primary medical services (GMS, PMS and APMS), primary dental services (GDS and PDS) and out of hours contracts. Most recently I have completed six transfers of community services on behalf of primary care trusts as part of the Transforming Community Services (TCS) programme.
I advise both public and private sector bodies on data protection, freedom of information and environmental information legislation and related guidance. My work here has ranged from compliance advice, to project managing the creation of a publication scheme to dealing directly with the Office of the Information Commissioner on complaints brought against public authorities about the way in which they have dealt with requests for information.
Supporting my clients’ ambitions
Recent highlights have been:
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Completing six TCS transactions (and three section 75 partnership arrangements in conjunction with two of them) to meet the 1 April deadline
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Completing a section 75 framework agreement between a primary care trust and council in the West Midlands for the joint commissioning and provision of six public services, the majority of which are to be commissioned using an Integrated Commissioning Directorate
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Lecturing on the Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Governance at Manchester University Business School
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Successfully demonstrating in a response to an information notice from the Information Commissioner’s Office that the section 43,(conduct prejudicial to commercial interests) Freedom of Information Act 2000 exemption applied to a request for information for details of research contracts and grants awarded to a public sector body in the face of a concerted campaign launched under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
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Advising on whether a proposed utilisation review project, which aimed to use real time information to ensure that patients were in the right bed at the right time and receiving the right care, and also to monitor patient outcomes and efficiencies at a regional level, complied with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidentiality
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Advising NHS bodies and other contracting authorities on the disclosure of information in PQQs, ITTs and other tender documents in response to procurement challenges
What do others say?
One of the most common things we hear is that our team is approachable and friendly. Legal 500 also says that we’re “efficient, prompt, incisive and have an in-depth understanding of the sector”.
What else should you know?
I have been instrumental in setting up the Healthcare Resource Centre, our firm’s online library of briefings and papers for those working in the NHS.