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15 July 2020 / Theo Huckle KC
Issue: 7895 / Categories: Opinion , Covid-19 , Personal injury , National Health Service
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COVID-19 & the scandal of the ‘other’ victims

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Why the diagnosis and treatment of non‑COVID patients with potentially life threatening conditions must be accelerated

Having been approached by a number of consultants and other clinical and managerial staff (including those who are ‘whistleblowers’ and did not feel able to sign the letter) I, along with colleagues Peter Walsh of Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA), Mary Smith of Novum Law, and other legal, patient safety charity and medical colleagues wrote to the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of each of the devolved nations last month in the following terms:

We the undersigned acknowledge the consistent efforts made by ministers in recent weeks to encourage people with non-COVID related illness to take up their rights to be treated by their national health service in the four parts of the UK, or under their private insurance arrangements, without any suggestion that those rights are reduced by the need to allocate resources to the fight against the pandemic itself.

However, we are increasingly concerned about

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

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Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

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Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

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A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
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The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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