Solicitors’ letters regarding ‘mask discrimination’
We are aware that practices are being contacted by solicitors’ firms seeking damages for patients for “discrimination in relation to mask wearing and access to care”. The following advice may be helpful for practices in order to identify the reasonableness of such claims:
- Check the solicitor/firm is real using the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website.
- The SRA’s “scam alerts” for the public and businesses are also helpful.
- Report the matter directly to the SRA if you think a firm or anyone regulated by the SRA has breached an SRA Principle. There are seven Principles that all people and law firms regulated by SRA must meet. This means that they must act:
- in a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law, and the proper administration of justice
- in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors' profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons
- with independence
- with honesty
- with integrity
- in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion
- in the best interests of each client.
- There are two Codes of Conduct which outline the professional standards expected. The first Code of Conduct is for regulated solicitors, and lawyers from overseas. The second Code of Conduct is for regulated firms. This sets out requirements for those firms, the people who manage them, and other employees who work in them.
- Should you wish to report the solicitor or firm to the SRA, instructions on how to do this are here. When reporting: set out your concerns clearly, identify individuals you consider responsible, attach any evidence you have in support. Complete a report form and send to report@sra.org.uk.
- For guidance on the complaints process, call the SRA contact centre. They cannot provide advice about your issue, but can point you in the right direction.
The following resources may also be helpful:
- Misconduct notes.
- Unsolicited approaches
- Personal injury (possible parallels here)
Workforce survey autumn 2019 initial findings (20 Jan 2020)
388 people working across 328 GP practices responded to the survey, representing 28% of the practices in the Londonwide LMCs’ area. Half of responding practices have vacancies for any role,...GPC regional representative elections 2020 (20 Jan 2020)
Nominations are open for the election of GPC regional representatives for 2020-2023 for two of the London GPC regional constituencies. Constituency: Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow. Dr Michelle...PCSE online accound for the Performers List - important information for individual GPs and practices (13 Jan 2020)
The new Primary Care Support England (PCSE) online service for submitting Performer List (PL) applications and changes is now live and replaces the old paper forms. The BMA’s General Practitioners...Mword - issue 41 (10 Jan 2020)
Londonwide LMCs' December 2019 Newsletter (18 Dec 2019)
...London general election 2019 update (18 Dec 2019)
Following the 12 December General Election, London has thirteen new MPs – many of whom have strong local government connections and experience. Dr Michelle Drage, Londonwide LMCs’ Chief Executive, will...Tips of the month December 2019 (17 Dec 2019)
We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...BMA pension records survey (16 Dec 2019)
The BMA are in the process of creating a Pensions Modeller for GPs. Tony Goldstone, who is building the modeller, has set up a five-minute survey to help determine how...ICO are chasing all unpaid data protection fees (16 Dec 2019)
The Information Commissioner’s Office launched a campaign on Tuesday 3 December 2019 to contact organisations who have not yet paid their annual data protection fee. The data protection fee...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.
follow us on...
