The Practice Manager's Law Handbook A Ready Reference to the Law for Managers of Medical General Practices

Awareness of the law is an essential part of any medical practice manager's role and is becoming even more important as patients and employees are becoming more litigation conscious. Every doctor in general practice must take note of the legal rights of different classes of people such as patients, employees, visitors to the surgery, and suppliers of goods and services to the practice, to ensure that these rights are not infringed in any way. Additionally the doctor must have a general knowledge of his/her own rights and how to seek redress when he/she is wronged.

This handbook is designed to provide a practical guide to the law in easily understandable language and does not pretend to be a formal textbook on the law. It describes the main features of the law that are likely to impact a medical general practice, in a user-friendly well-illustrated fashion. Complex legal minutiae have been stripped away to help the non-lawyer gain an understanding of the law.

Part I: Overview of the law: Introduction to the law; Administrative law; Criminal law; Private or civil law; Part II: The law and the practice as a business undertaking: Partnership law; Work place health and safety; Part III: The law and confidentiality: Personal data - protection and access; Confidentiality and privacy; The security of confidentiality information; Part IV: Relations between employers and employees: Contracts of employment; Pay and conditions of work; Discrimination in employment; Trade unions - disciplinary and grievance procedures; Part V: Consumer protection and product liability law: Consumer protection, product liability and medicinal products; Part VI: Deaths, coroners and mental health law: Sudden death and the coroner; Mental health law; Appendix A: Legal authorities; Appendix B: Getting further information on legal matters.