For a free no-obligation legal consultation,
please call me on 020 7129 7961 or 07729 421836
or submit your details below
For a free no-obligation legal consultation,
please call me on 020 7129 7961 or 07729 421836
or submit your details below
It is no coincidence that all of the larger and successful health and social care providers have in house legal advisers. Such lawyers get to know the directors and senior staff well and get to know how the business operates from the inside. Legal risks are identified and dealt with early on and staff have regular access to legal training and an informal legal sounding board. Good legal counsel mitigate risks, prevent legal issues from becoming problems and pro-actively educate staff towards regulatory compliance.
Smaller providers cannot justify the cost of a permanent full-time legal counsel on the payroll. My innovative in house counsel service provides my clients with all the benefits of their own in house legal adviser at a fraction of the cost.
To find out more about how my innovative in house service could add value to your business, please contact me.
As a Solicitor-Advocate, My Approach to Case Preparation is as Follows
Directors and owners of care homes, independent hospitals, children’s homes and home-care providers approach me to provide, strategic, commercial and achievable solutions to legal, regulatory and compliance issues.
My approach is persuasive and measured with the balanced judgement that comes from decades of experience.
Having successfully set up, run and managed a highly regulated business myself for many years, I am keenly aware of the need to protect your ‘bottom line’ and your business reputation. I view law and compliance as an essential and enabling means to an end; to help your business thrive.
Protect your ‘bottom line’ and business reputation
My measured and diplomatic approach has proved successful.
But when your business and the livelihood of your staff are unfairly or wrongly threatened, I take a tough yet persuasive approach to prevent, mitigate and stop enforcement action by regulators.
I deliver this law firm partner-level service as a consultant solicitor-advocate through healthcare specialists Scott-Moncrieff & Associates and My Business Counsel.
Knowing which approach to take has delivered success for my clients, protecting their bottom line and enhancing their reputation, in:
SOLICITOR ADVOCATE (CIVIL) AND Member of the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates
Member of the Association of Disciplinary and Regulatory Lawyers
Member of the Association of Health and Safety Lawyers
PAST MEMBER OF THE LAW SOCIETY MENTAL HEALTH TRIBUNAL PANEL FOR 10 YEARS
As a Solicitor Advocate I am ideally placed to deal with tribunal appeals from start to finish and with experience of advocacy at hundreds of tribunals and at the Coroners' Court, you will have an experienced health and social care law expert talking your language and that of the tribunal panel.
Solicitor Advocates are qualified to exercise 'Higher Court rights' in the same way as Barristers and to appear for you in all courts, including the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Having been a Law Society Mental Health Tribunal Panel member for a decade, I have advised on mental health law in all types of settings, from LD units to mental health wards to secure psychiatric units and Special Hospitals. Even with good policies and procedures in place, staff often have queries about documentation, s.17 leave, second opinions and tribunals.
I work with Mental Health Act Administrators and ward staff to provide guidance and legal assurance that they are acting lawfully, as well as practical training on MCA/DoLS and Mental Health law and compliance.
CQC registration can be smooth and relatively quick so long as the application form is fully completed and all supporting evidence is obtained and provided at the outset.
You will be committing an offence and subject to prosecution by CQC if you carry out a "regulated activity" without registration. Any breaches will make future registration highly unlikely.
With CQC's new market shaping role and rules around corporate structures and registration, providers have found that my guidance at the outset helps to smooth the process through to registration.
With CQC's targeted and unannounced inspections, being more focused and increasingly in depth, directors and managers find it helps to prepare proactively for inspections and have plans in place to handle matters positively when a team of inspectors turns up unannounced.
Preparing for inspections appropriately, handling the inspectors positively and responding effectively to draft reports and draft ratings ensures that your reputation is protected, raises morale and adds value to your business.
CQC continues to use its full range of enforcement powers. You may have received a Warning Notice from CQC or a Notice of Proposal to impose an additional condition or to cancel your registration. You may be faced with a Notice of Decision to cancel your registration or with a Fixed Penalty Notice. A timely and robust legal response can stop CQC in their tracks and in serious cases, save your business.
New Report
Published on July 24, 2018
As a public body CQC is well aware that its decisions are subject to judicial review and, in order to withstand a legal challenge, it must be able to show that its decisions were lawful (i.e. the Health and Social Care Act 2008 has given it the power to make the decision), reasonable, rational and followed the correct procedure.
New Report
Published 16 November 2018
How to comply with CMA’s new consumer law guidance for providers. After two years of examining how the care home market treats consumers, the Competition and Markets Authority has today published guidance for providers.
New Report
Published 3 December 2018
Is your organisation faced with an upcoming inquest? Have you been asked to provide a report to a coroner? Are you required to attend an inquest as a witness?
If any of the above questions apply to you or your organisation, please read on.
New Article
Published 3 March 2019
My article published in Expert Care Manager magazine looks at CQC’s update on safety incidents in care homes.
It provides helpful guidance for providers in complying with health and safety requirements and in preparing for CQC inspections.
I have delivered training courses to individual providers, care associations, sector conferences and to staff teams in central government and at regulators. I am skilled at and enjoy devising and delivering engaging courses to staff at all levels.
Popular courses:
Data Protection and GDPR - Introduction or Advanced
2 hour session with case study
Preparing for CQC Inspections and responding to Draft Reports
2 hour session with case study
Coroners’ Court Inquests – preparation for court, case study and role play
2 hour session with case study
As one of an increasing number of expert lawyers offering their services as consultants through ‘next generation’ law firms, my clients don’t pay for the expensive overheads of a traditional firm. My colleagues and I provide a personal service that is responsive and effective, delivering excellent value for money.
Where possible I work on a fixed fee basis that provides you with absolute certainty of cost for an agreed piece of work, for example to draft and submit a factual accuracy response to CQC, to prepare and conduct an appeal to the Tribunal or to review and prepare an application for registration.
My innovative in house service is highly cost effective and usually the best value for smaller providers with less than five ‘locations’.
My expertise is acknowledged by insurers and where your insurance covers the legal work needed, I am able to work around the rates set by most insurers.
As an experienced Solicitor Advocate, I am one of an elite group of solicitors who are qualified to represent clients personally in all tribunals and civil courts, as well as at inquests. My clients do not need to pay extra for a barrister to re-read the documents or to put their case in court.
For a free consultation feel free to contact me any time on
email: errol@archers-law.com
I provide my services as a Consultant Solicitor-Advocate through the firms below
My colleagues at Scott Moncrieff are able to provide you with specialist legal services in, amongst other areas, commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions and directors duties.
My colleagues at My Business Counsel are able to provide you with specialist legal services in employment law, commercial law, corporate law and real estate, amongst others.
Alternatively, please complete the form below and I will get back to you promptly.
Archers Law is a trading name of Archers Law (Healthcare) Limited, company number 11449112 registered in England & Wales whose registered office is Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, England, GL50 3AT. For the avoidance of doubt, Archers Law (Healthcare) Limited trading as Archers Law is not authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.