This is the brand new course for junior lawyers specialising in clinical negligence. Introduced alongside AvMA’s Certificates of Competence Scheme (CCS), both this course and the CCS have been developed to support and enable junior lawyers to progress their skills and knowledge and work towards best practice in their career in clinical negligence law.

Programme:

Day 1 - 23^rd September 2026

09.30 – 09.40: Chairs introduction and CCS
Speaker: Lisa O’Dwyer, Director of Medico-Legal Services, AvMA

09.40 – 10.10: Lived experience: A patient’s painful journey for the truth when healthcare goes wrong
Speaker: James Titcombe OBE

• What it is like when something goes wrong
• What do injured patients/their families want?
• Facing “the system” alone and the path to finding answers, outcomes/litigation
• The difference that finding AvMA made to them

10.10 - 11.00: Instructing your expert by an expert: What your expert needs: Litigation skills module (50 minutes)
Speaker: TBC

• Determining the quality of experts before instructing them
• Questioning your expert report
• Optimising the skills, potential assistance and co operation of the experts during the case progression.
• Managing the dynamics between experts at conference with counsel
• Frequency, type and content of communication with experts
• What experts think about without prejudice meetings and agendas

11.00 – 11.20: Coffee break

11.20 - 12.00: Litigation module - Section 75 Consumer Credit Act
Speaker: Richard Mumford, Barrister, 1 Crown Office Row

• How can s75 CCA apply to claims relating to medical treatment?
• Who can claim on it?

12.00– 12.30: Applying for Certificate Competence Scheme
Speaker: Lisa O’Dwyer, Director of Medico-Legal Services, AvMA

12.30 – 13.20: LUNCH

13.20 – 14.00: Litigation Module: Litigation capacity
Speaker: Dr Oliver Lewis, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers 

• Capacity, how to assess your client’s capacity, and how to safeguard against fluctuating capacity
• Steps you need to take to declare your client as a vulnerable client.
• The Equalities Act and using it to bring a clinical negligence action
• Use of intermediaries

14.00 – 15.00: Healthcare Provision module: An overview of how the Health system is structured
Speaker:  TBC

• Parliament and what is an Arms Length Body
• What is the Dept Health and Social Care (DHSC) role in healthcare? Discuss proposals for Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) and Patient Reported Experience Measures (PREM) to be assessed by a to be and newly appointed National Director Patient Experience)
• What is NHS England’s (NHSE) role? Discuss different aspects of NHSE work and how NHSE has responsibility for work formerly undertaken by Health Education England; NHS Improvement (NHSI)
• What does UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvements and Disparities (work formerly undertaken by Public Health England) do?
• What is NHS Improvement (NHSI)?
• What is the Human Tissue Authority?
• What is the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
• What is the National Quality Board? (NQB recognises the importance of considering all aspects of quality when making any changes to delivery of health and care services. This govt proposes in the 10 yr Plan and Dash Review, that NQB be reformulated as a one-stop quality assurance hub
• What does the CQC do (Discuss how it has accepted arms length responsibility for HSSIB and MNSI – say what they are)
• Can these organisations be used to hold Healthcare providers and what action can it take against hospitals?
• If there is time other agencies to discuss are: HSSIB; the role of the Patient Safety Commissioner; National Guardians Office;

15.00 – 15.15 Coffee Break

15.15 – 16.15: Litigation module - Issues in Medical Expert evidence
Speaker: Lucy Bill, Barrister, 3PB Barristers 

• Recent caselaw on expert medical evidence
• Criticism of experts at trial – should an expert who has been criticised in a previous hearing be dropped in other pending cases?
• Pitfalls and management of expert evidence

16.15 - 16.55: Looking after yourself: Wellness
Speaker: Dr Linda Kenward, BACP Senior Registered Psychotherapist, Harmed Patients Alliance

• What are the effects of remote working,
• Your mental health, how to ask for help, how to spot signs of mental ill
• An introduction to informed trauma.
• What is counselling and therapy
• Finding a counsellor & signposting
• What can clients expect from counselling
• Managing bereavement particular considerations

17.00: Chairs round up and end of day 1

DAY 2 – 24^th September 2026

09.00 – 09.05 - Chairs introduction and recap
Speaker: Lisa O’Dwyer, Director of Medico-Legal Services, AvMA

09.05 – 09.50:  Healthcare Provision module: Integrated Care Boards (ICBs)
Speaker:  Sarah Idelbi, Barrister, 39 Essex Chambers 

• What is an ICB and what is their role
• How do they fund and plan NHS services in their local area. What are the different considerations and challenges ICBs have to take into account from region to region.
• Who are ICBs accountable to? And how to hold the ICB to account
• What is their responsibility for identifying and tackling inequalities in healthcare outcomes

09.50 – 10.30: Healthcare provision and patient safety module: NCEPOD
Speaker: Marisa Mason, Chief Executive, NCEPOD 

10.30 – 10.45 – Coffee break

10.45 – 11.45: Litigation module: Causation in clinical negligence
Speaker: Jasper Gold, Barrister, 1 Crown Office Row 

11.45 – 12.45: Healthcare provision and patient safety module: Professional Regulation (NMC/GMC)
Speaker: David Juckes, Barrister, Halisham Chambers

• The prof reg triage process
• Types of cases that go before tribunal
• Preparing for the process
• A case study
• How to support patients referring to healthcare professionals to prof regulators

12.45 pm – 13.30: Lunch

13.30 – 14.30: Litigation module: Actions in private hospital care 
Speaker: Elizabeth-Anne Gumbell KC, Barrister, 1 Crown Office Row

• Special considerations when suing for private medical care providers – identifying the tortfeasor, treating healthcare professional or the hospital?
• Private care subcontracted through NHS
• The rise of the private GP
• Principles of vicarious liability
• Things to consider when suing a private care provider (Common problems with professional indemnity insurance (insufficient cover and/or discretionary indemnity insurance)

14.30 – 15.15: Litigation Module: Private Healthcare Insurance Issues
Speaker: Dr Sheila Bloomer, Associate Lecturer, University of York

• Effects of Iain Patterson’s insurance position on his patients (This is about them being unable to recover compensation for the harm caused by his actions).
• Introduction of The Medical Defence Organisation’s Voluntary Code of Practice – core principles and when it applies

15.15 – 15.30: Chair’s round up and close of conference
Speaker: Lisa O’Dwyer, Director of Medico-Legal Services, AvMA

Booking open NOW!