Montgomery: a dramatic change in the law on patient consent?: The Baron de Lancey Medical Law Lecture 2016

Baron Cornelius Ver Heyden de Lancey (1889-1984) was a wealthy and public-spirited Dutchman who at different times in his life was a dentist, doctor, surgeon, barrister and art historian. In 1970 he created the De Lancey and De La Hanty Foundation, to promote studies in medico-legal topics. The Foundation generously gave Cambridge the Ver Heyden de Lancey Fund, which since 1996 has funded occasional public lectures on medico-legal issues of current interest.

The The Baron de Lancey Medical Law Lecture 2016 was delivered on 5 February 2016 by Mr James Badenoch QC who acted as counsel for the successful appellant before the UK Supreme Court in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11, and was entitled "Montgomery: a dramatic change in the law on patient consent?".

In his lecture James Badenoch outlined the state of the law before the decision in Montgomery and the numerous ways in which it had failed to pay attention to the key distinction, recognised by the Supreme Court in Montgomery, between cases concerning disclosure of information and those concerning the application of medical skill and expertise. He went on to suggest that the decisive break achieved in Montgomery may well prove an apt footing on which to challenge the long-held authority of the so-called 'Bolam' test for whether a medical practitioner has been negligent in situations outside of that considered in Montgomery.

For more information about the Baron de Lancey Medical Law Lecture series, please see http://www.lml.law.cam.ac.uk/events/vhdl-events