Postgraduate Course: Medico-Legal Issues in Clinical Negligence and Regulation (LAWS11561)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course interrogates medico-legal issues which arise in the delivery of healthcare, with a focus on clinical negligence law and healthcare professionals¿ fitness to practice, as well as patient safety and wellbeing. |
| Course description |
This course provides an in-depth examination of key medico-legal issues for patients, publics and healthcare professionals which arise in the context of the delivery of healthcare.
In order to provide students with a strong foundation from which to expand their knowledge the course will commence with three seminars which consider the changing regulatory landscape and how high-profile failures in care have shaped modern healthcare, as well as patient safety and wellbeing. Weeks 4 and 5 will then focus on what happens when a healthcare professionals' fitness to practise is called into question, considering cases which engage issues such as clinical failures, dishonesty and sexual misconduct.
Weeks 6 - 10 involve providing students with key foundational knowledge and problem-solving skills in relation to the law applicable to clinical negligence. In Week 6, an introduction is provided to (i) how this second half of the course links into the first half; and (ii) the key elements needed to establish a claim in clinical negligence. In Week 7, key evidentiary and practice-based issues in clinical negligence claims are examined including retaining medico-legal experts, time limitations for bringing claims, what defences may be available to healthcare professionals in defending such claims and what type and categories of compensation may be payable in the event that the claim is successful. In Week 8, a select topic, such as the use of AI in clinical decision-making, is examined in terms of potential liability for harm giving rise to clinical negligence claims. Week 9 explores potential alternatives available to injured patients making clinical negligence claims, including other redress options and no-fault schemes. Week 10 involves a study of problem-based scenarios arising from clinical negligence in legal practice.
The course will be delivered by way of in-person, two-hour seminars. Up to 2 of the seminars will involve legal/regulation practitioners to provide students with the opportunity to interact with experts who are at the forefront of legal and regulatory practise. Students will be expected to complete essential reading (as provided on a resource list on Learn) in advance, and come to class ready to discuss their views. Class participation will be facilitated by the seminar leader, and may take the form of small group and/or whole class discussions, depending on the topic.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The summative assessment will be a problem scenario (4000 words) which is due at the end of the course, which comprises 100% of the overall mark for the course. «br /»
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Note that students will also be able to undertake a formative assessment, which will involve a problem scenario of shorter length (1000 words). «br /»
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| Feedback |
There will be a formative assessment comprising a problem scenario (1000-word answer max). This will follow a similar format to the final summative assessment, in order that markers can comment on key skills such as the development of well justified analysis, argumentation and clear conclusions. Oral feedback on key topics, as well as providing opportunities for Q & A sessions on such topics, will also operate as a form of feedback to students taking the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Knowledge and Sources of Law: demonstrate a sound grasp of core and specialist areas of health professional regulation and clinical neglignce
- Subject-specific Skills: to develop and apply critical thinking informed by legal and ethical analysis of core and specialist areas of these topics
- General Transferable Intellectual Skills: independent critical analysis and problem solving through ethical and legal discourse, and the application of that analysis in discussion format
- Key Personal Skills: written and oral skills necessary to deliver the above.
- Subject-specific Legal and Ethical Values: autonomy, empathy, critical self-reflection; academic integrity.
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Reading List
| Mason McCall Smith, Law and Medical Ethics (12th edn) (OUP 2023) (written by members of the HMLE team) is the core textbook for this course. Students will be directed to key resources for essential and recommended readings in the weekly handouts and on e-resource lists on Learn. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
-Critical self-reflection
-Creative problem-solving
-Skilled communication |
| Keywords | Clinical negligence,healthcare professional regulation,medico-legal,healthcare |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Anne-Maree Farrell
Tel: (0131 6)50 2020
Email: A.Farrell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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