Inquests & Public Inquiries
Mark regularly attends inquests on behalf of all properly interested parties including families, NHS Trusts, surgeons, care homes, care staff, insurers and employers.
He has particular experience in relation to deaths occurring in hospital and in custody and in a care home setting. He has detailed knowledge of the systems and procedures operated in hospitals and prisons and the health care arrangements pertaining to both organisations.
Mark has been involved in several inquests involving the implications of surgical procedures and the consequences of the MRSA virus.
He has experience of appearing before juries at inquests and has a particular interest in the issue of neglect arising from the lack of appropriate medical treatment.
Mark has considerable experience in dealing with Article 2/ ‘Middleton’ inquests and the scope of the inquiry to be undertaken to satisfy the requirements of the Human Rights Act.
He was instructed by the family of Yvonne Simmons who died as a result of a hernia which was not appropriately treated. An urgent referral to an upper gastro-intestinal surgeon had been identified as being necessary but did not occur. A jury returned a verdict of accidental death contributed to by neglect.
He has been instructed to represent private and NHS hospitals in relation to deaths occurring following procedures such as heart transplant surgery, hip and other orthopaedic operations. He has experience in dealing with the consequences of deep vein thrombosis.
Mark acted for a primary care trust in the inquest into the death of James Yarnell. This article 2 inquest involved a prisoner who had received an overdose of oral chemotherapy drugs following his attendance at hospital. Mark represented the PCT which provided health care services in the prison. A jury heard four weeks of evidence relating to the systems in place for the prescribing, dispensing, storage and control of oral chemotherapy drugs. The inquest involved extensive submissions in relation to the scope of the inquiry, the evidence to be presented to the jury and the potential verdicts to be returned.
Mark was involved in a three week inquest relating to a death of a resident in a care home from sepsis which had arisen due to an infected pressure ulcer. Mark acted for a team of district nurses who had provided care.
Mark acted for a care home in a week long jury inquest involving a resident who had died by choking on her food as a result of the progressive consequences of vascular dementia.
Mark has recently been involved in two jury inquests involving the use of medical equipment in a care home setting.
Mark acted for two paramedics in a four week jury inquest relating to a death caused by taking illicit drugs. The death occurred in custody and it involved complex issues of causation requiring the expert input of two Home Office Pathologists.
Selected Cases
Costs
Mark has been involved in many costs’ hearings and has particular experience dealing with technical issues involving conditional fee agreements. He has been involved in several cases relating to the notification of funding and the consequences of Before the Event Insurance. Mark has often attended detailed assessment hearings on behalf of both Claimants and Defendants.
He was instructed by the Defendant in the case of Zahur v Centrica [HHJ Walford] in an appeal relating to the operation of CPR Part 36 and whether an offer is capable of acceptance in the absence of formal written notice of withdrawal.
He was instructed by the Defendant in the case of Watkiss v Allison which involved the recoverability of ATE premiums in LVI cases.
Mark has considerable experience in dealing with cases involving the operation of CPR Part 44 and the appropriate costs’ orders to be made where there have been admissible offers to settle which have not been made in accordance with Part 36.
