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PI Brief Update

Book Review: Clinical Negligence (Seventh Edition, Bloomsbury Professional) by Charles Lewis, Andrew Buchan

Book review by Tim Kevan

Clinical negligence is an extremely technical and involved area of law and it is therefore quite a challenge to provide a comprehensive guide to the whole area but this book fulfils that role with gusto. The first six editions of this established practitioner text were written by Charles Lewis. For this seventh edition, barrister Andrew Buchan has taken on the role of general editor and overseen a high quality and very experienced team of contributors.

The book runs to over 700 pages and yet despite its length remains very clear both in its structure and layout as well as in the detail. Part one deals with the structure of the NHS and a general look at the non legal and legal remedies available to potential claimants. Part two goes on to deal with the duty of care, strict liability, causation, foreseeability, proof and consent as well as particular types of cases such as wrongful birth, The Congenital Disabilities Act 1976, psychiatric injury and economic loss. Part three covers procedure and part four deals with specific issues such as inquests, limitation, medical records, experts, human rights, capacity and then the law with respect to Wales. Finally, part five deals with funding and costs.

For an area of law which has experienced enormous change over the last few years this edition has been completely updated from the last. It covers, for example, the effects of the NHS Redress Act 2006 and detention under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Court of Protection as well as significant cases on issues such as causation, consent, human rights, costs, funding and experts.

The quality and clarity of this practical, learned and comprehensive book are such that it would be incredibly helpful both to those dealing with this area for the first time and also to those already trained in its many intricacies.

Tim Kevan is the co-editor of the Personal Injury Brief Update Law Journal

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All information on this site was believed to be correct by the relevant authors at the time of writing. All content is for information purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. No liability is accepted by either the publisher or the author(s) for any errors or omissions (whether negligent or not) that it may contain. 

The opinions expressed in the articles are the authors' own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand. 

Professional advice should always be obtained before applying any information to particular circumstances.

Excerpts from judgments and statutes are Crown copyright. Any Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of OPSI and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland under the Open Government Licence.