Legal perils of Covid-19
Keep it Legal
Every sector of the economy in the UK and abroad is facing unprecedented challenges arising out of the current Covid-19 pandemic – and independent practitioners are no exception.
We have considered some of the legal issues that you may be facing in the current climate and how you might be able to respond to them if you have not already been able to take action. Kirsty Odell reports.
Patients
1 Treatment
We are aware that many private healthcare providers have been dedicating resources to the NHS and have suspended thousands of planned non-urgent treatments to private patients, where considered clinically appropriate.
They are also restricting access to visitors to try to limit the potential risk of spread of Covid-19 on their sites.
If you are taking such measures, you will need to ensure that you are communicating with your patients and staff about them and where operations or courses of treatment are being suspended, you will need to consider the financial impact of that – for example, when refunding treatments.
Any changes or delays in treatment should be with the patient’s knowledge and consent, where appropriate, taking into account the material risks of any such change or delay.