Sarah Vaughan Jones QC

QC: 2008  Call: 1983

Expertise

Clinical Negligence
Personal Injury
Professional Negligence
Professional Regulation

Practice Profile

Sarah has a broad professional negligence practice, with substantial experience of disputes involving construction professionals, surveyors and legal professionals. She has a particular interest in clinical negligence (where she has been mentioned in Chambers and Partners as being a "standout" barrister), professional regulation, and pharmaceutical product liability. Sarah's personal injury practice has focused recently on high value claims, industrial disease and other cases involving significant medical issues.

 

Clinical Negligence

• Wide experience of the clinical and ethical issues facing clinicians providing care in both hospital and primary care settings.
• Spring 2002, represented Trust at Inquest into death of Najila Hussein: 3 year old girl accidentally ventilated with nitrous oxide in A&E. Instructed by Kennedys Newmarket.
• August 2000, Counsel for the Trust in case involving legality of withdrawal of artificial ventilation from patient with motor neurone disease, instructed by Mills & Reeve.
• Regularly instructed on behalf of the NHSLA in clinical negligence claims: recent examples include obstetric mis-management during delivery, failure to detect fetal abnormalities during pregnancy, failed sterilisation, failed abortion, inadequate assessment of suicidal patients, inappropriate prescribing of anti-psychotics, negligent management in intensive care, negligent management of fractures including spinal surgery, negligent conduct of visual testing.
• Recently instructed on behalf of defence organisations and insurers to advise on alleged liability of GP principals and providers of out of hours cover.

 

 

Personal Injury

• Substantial experience of advising in and contesting employer’s liability and other personal claims, with a particular interest in cases of alleged repetitive strain injuries and back injuries.   Over many years represented and advised major manufacturer of white goods in claims for repetitive strain injury.

 

Professional Negligence

• Acting in numerous professional negligence actions involving surveyors, valuers, architects, engineers, solicitors, counsel, accountants, insurance brokers.

 

Professional Regulation

• Regularly instructed to appear before the General Medical Council’s Professional Conduct and Registration Committees and Committee on Professional Performance.  

    Examples of conduct cases include:

• Failure by GP to diagnose concealed pregnancy
• Failure by GP to detect carcinoma of the breast
• Inadequate examination on home visits
• Poor conduct of ENT surgery
• Consultant in pain management: deficiencies relating to spinal drug delivery
• Consultant: alleged irresponsible prescribing of opiates in terminal care
• Irresponsible prescribing of controlled drugs to addicts
• Consultant paediatrician: alleged poor management of convulsions 
• Professor: alleged mismanagement of clinical drugs trials;
• Consultant pathologist: alleged breach of confidentiality
• Inappropriate relationships/ sexual assaults on patients

  

  Examples of performance cases include:

•  Several cases involving GP principals and locums
• Consultant anaesthetist: ITU management
• Anaesthetic registrar
• Registrar in O&G
• Staff grade psychiatrist

 

• Regularly instructed to appear at the General Dental Council in cases before their Professional Conduct Committee involving both dentistry and orthodontistry.
• Advised other professional bodies in relation to disciplinary issues relating to nursing and psycho-analysis.

Notable Cases

Silver v General Medical Council 14 April 2003
Garfoot v General Medical Council [2002] UKPC 35 
Crabbie v General Medical Council [2002] UKPC 45. 
Re A.K. (withdrawal of treatment)  [2001] 1 FLR 129
Dad v General Dental Council  [2000] 1 WLR 1538
Housing Loan Corporation Ltd v William H Brown and anor: CA 18.12.1998
Virgin Management Ltd and anor v De Morgan Group plc 45 Con LR 28
The Housing Loan Corporation plc v William H. Brown (1997)
Darlington v Wiltshier (1994).