Gordons
Tel: 01483 451900
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.gordonsols.co.uk
Sectors
- Care homes.
- Domiciliary care.
- Supported living and extra care.
- Learning disability services.
- Independent hospitals.
Services
- Regulatory action.
- Responding to civil and criminal enforcement action, and draft inspection reports.
- Safeguarding enquiries.
- Contract disputes (including fees and embargoes).
- Police investigations and prosecutions.
- Mental health, mental capacity and DoLS.
- Health and safety.
- Inquests.
- Employment law.
- Corporate finance and banking.
- Sales and acquisitions.
- Property-related matters.
- Commercial law advice.
- Commercial litigation.
Lead individuals
Neil Grant heads our Health and Social Care Provider Team based in Guildford. Neil is an expert in the regulation and funding of health and social care services. He has a wealth of experience, having acted for inspectorates and other public bodies at a senior level. Nowadays, Neil only acts for providers, not regulators or commissioners, thus avoiding conflicts of interest. His motivation in working at Gordons Partnership is to offer the sector a full-service legal offering at competitive rates.
Susan Hunneyball works alongside Neil and has significant experience in advising clients in the health and social care sector. She has assisted providers with appeals against CQC decisions and, relevantly during the pandemic, on issues arising from compliance with infection control. She has helped providers obtain good outcomes following CQC urgent action. In addition, a large part of the work she does is advising clients who are involved in inquests or have Fitness to Practise issues, particularly in the pharmacy sector where Susan has a national reputation.
Timely and informed legal advice is essential to the successful running of any operation but particularly in the care sector. Our approach is strategic and commercial, working in partnership with the client. We aim to resolve and improve matters through dialogue in the interests of service users, the provider and other stakeholders. However, we are assertive in defending our clients’ rights.
Company information
Gordons Partnership LLP is a respected law firm and is a recognised leader in the healthcare field. It was formed in 1994 by three lawyers from leading practices who were fed up with the ‘factory’ approach to law. Their philosophy was to provide high-quality, practical and affordable advice, in a professional and friendly environment. Throughout Gordons’ growth, we have not lost sight of that philosophy.
Hempsons
Tel: 01423 724056
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.hempsons.co.uk
Sectors
- Care homes.
- Domiciliary care.
- Supported living and extra care.
- Learning disability services.
- Independent hospitals.
Services
- Charity law.
- Commercial property.
- Community care law.
- Contracts
- Corporate law.
- CQC regulatory.
- Data protection and security.
- Disputes and litigation.
- Employment law.
- Fundraising
- Health and safety.
- Inquests and coroners.
- Judicial review.
- Mental health law.
- Safeguarding
- Tendering
Lead individuals
Philippa leads Hempsons social care team and specialises in CQC work, both for and against, which gives her a unique insight and the ability to offer pragmatic advice. She has over 20 years’ experience in the health and social care sector, with a varied workload including information governance, safeguarding, Court of Protection and consent. She provides extensive registered manager training to aide compliance with the Fundamental Standards. Philippa is the first point of contact on Hempsons’ social care advice line and works regularly with colleagues in employment, commercial and dispute resolution, to meet the needs
of providers.
Martin acts for health and social care organisations in the full range of claims before employment tribunals. He frequently defends factually complex and also legally novel claims, particularly in relation to disability, sex and sexual orientation discrimination and whistle-blowing allegations. His advice practise includes executive and senior manager terminations, discrimination issues, TUPE, reorganisations, complex disciplinary matters and concerns with doctors (MHPS). Martin also provides bespoke training on employment topics ranging from TUPE and related procurement preparation, to equal opportunities, disciplinary investigations and appeals.
Company information
Leading health, social care and charity lawyers, Hempsons supports providers in delivering quality services. The team won the Care Sector Supplier Awards 2021: Legal and professional category, and are a finalist again this year. Hempsons’ social care advice line offers providers 15 minutes of free legal advice. Simply call 01423 724056.
‘We have found that all our contacts at Hempsons have been knowledgeable, both about our sector and the legislative process. We have also valued the fact that Hempsons have been flexible, accessible and responsive.’ – The Wilf Ward Family Trust
Lester Aldridge
Tel: 01202 786187
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.lesteraldridge.com/for-business/healthcare/
Sectors
- Care homes/nursing homes.
- Domiciliary care agencies.
- Supported living services.
- Independent hospitals.
- Charities and third sector.
- Learning disability services.
Services
- Regulatory advice, disputes with CQC or other regulators.
- Challenging inspection reports and ratings.
- Defending enforcement action and challenging notices of proposal.
- Defending CQC criminal investigations and prosecutions.
- Regulatory due diligence.
- Safeguarding investigations.
- Supported living arrangements.
- Disputes with councils/CCGs.
- Contractual disputes.
- Coroner’s inquests.
- Court of Protection cases.
- Health and safety.
- Police investigations.
- Sales and acquisitions.
- Professional misconduct issues.
- Employment advice.
Lead individual
Laura Guntrip is Head of the Healthcare Team which specialises in health and social care. Laura has specialised in this sector for 14 years. Members often write for care sector publications and are regularly asked to speak at conferences, recognising their niche expertise and reputation. The team acts for providers and is the first choice for many, from small operators to national providers. The team has been advising the Registered Nursing Home Association for over 30 years, as well as acting for other regional care associations.
‘We act in relation to a variety of matters, from helping providers challenge CQC reports and ratings or defending enforcement action, to representing providers in inquests and criminal investigations,’ explains Laura. ‘We understand how care services operate and the difficulties they face. We provide clear, practical solutions and offer a one-stop shop to assist providers in all matters stemming from an incident: CQC action and safeguarding investigations, but also police investigations, employment issues and professional misconduct proceedings, offering consistency in representation.’
Company information
The firm has an enviable reputation with a national following. The team has been a finalist in the Legal Advisor category of the LaingBuisson Awards in recent years and the Health Investor Awards annually since 2013.
Scott Moncrieff & Associates Ltd
Tel: 020 3972 9011
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.scomo.com
Sectors
- Care homes, homecare.
- GPs and dental practices.
- Independent hospitals, clinics.
- Supported living and extra care.
- Learning disability.
- Mental health.
- Cosmetics and ‘aesthetics’ services.
Services
- CQC Appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal.
- CQC registration advice.
- CQC notices to refuse, cancel or vary registration, warning notices and fixed penalty notices.
- Buying and selling.
- Commercial law advice.
- Commercial litigation.
- Commissioner fee and contract disputes.
- Contract drafting.
- Employment
- GP disputes with CCGs.
- GP referrals to NHS Resolution.
- Health and safety.
- Inquests and judicial review.
- MCA, safeguarding.
- Police investigations.
- Property development and construction.
Lead individuals
Errol Archer leads on regulatory work for health and social care providers. His experienced team works with small and large providers, delivering commercially focused solutions. He brings valuable regulatory and policy insights from many years of advising business owners, regulatory bodies, central Government departments and Government ministers. As a specialist Solicitor-Advocate, he has represented clients at hundreds of court and tribunal hearings, including the First-Tier Tribunal (Care Standards), the Coroners’ Court and the
High Court. We have successfully handled numerous Judicial Review challenges for providers.
Tom Woodward is a specialist Employment Lawyer and provides expert advice to employers via a fast-response, cost-effective service on an ‘as required’ basis. Robert Cottingham handles any commercial property matters for clients.
Company information
Scott-Moncrieff is a leading firm, established over 30 years ago and known for its commitment to delivering high-quality legal services at an affordable cost.
The firm provides a national service through recognised leaders in their fields, across all legal areas. It has a national reputation and particular expertise in the health and social care sectors. Its co-founder, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff CBE, describes the firm as user-friendly and approachable and emphasises that every client gets a personal service. The firm is known for standing up for clients when the going gets tough.
Weightmans LLP
Tel: 0345 073 9900
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.weightmans.com
Sectors
- Care homes and care homes with nursing.
- Domiciliary/homecare providers.
- Supported/assisted living.
- Extra care and retirement living.
- Independent hospitals and clinics.
- Mental health and learning disability services.
- Children’s homes and foster care/agencies.
Services
- Health and care regulatory.
- Challenging inspection reports.
- Corporate, regulatory and police investigations and prosecutions.
- Inquests and inquiries.
- Safeguarding and Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) investigations.
- Mental capacity and Liberty Protection Safeguards.
- Employment, pensions and business immigration.
- Mergers and acquisitions and
joint ventures. - Real estate and construction.
- Commercial contracts and procurement.
- Contractual and fee disputes.
- Finance
- Corporate restructuring
and insolvency. - Complaints, claims and litigation.
Lead individuals
The Health and Care Team is multi-disciplinary and is led by Andrew Parsons and Mike Clifford. Andrew specialises in health and care regulatory law, providing advice on care home, mental health and public law. Andrew is a leading practitioner in his field and is also the Honorary Legal Adviser to Care England.
Mike specialises in corporate law and acts for providers, owners of, investors in and funders of health and care businesses. Together they lead a team of over 150 specialist health and care lawyers across the country, acting for a large number of private, charitable and public sector health and care providers.
Company information
Weightmans is a Top 50 commercial law firm with offices in England, Scotland and Wales. We are recognised by clients, intermediaries and commentators alike for our work in health, care and allied health and care charities work. We act for many of the largest care home groups as well as a multitude of smaller and specialist providers.
We provide our health and care clients with a comprehensive, ‘one-stop shop’ of legal services. We pride ourselves on offering the very best and well-informed advice combined with a responsive and cost-effective service.
We understand that problems can arise at any time in a health and care setting, so we operate a 24-hour helpline to provide advice and support to our clients. Our health and care services are complemented by lectures, seminars and briefings that enable our clients to keep up to date with the latest developments.
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