Gordons Partnership 2020 Limited

Health and Social Care

Partner

Susan is a solicitor with considerable experience in advising healthcare clients. She joined Gordons from Charles Russell Speechlys LLP in September 2019 and became a partner in 2022.

In professional discipline matters Susan represents pharmacists in proceedings before the General Pharmaceutical Council, and advises on appeals from that body to the High Court. She represents healthcare professionals in conduct issues involving NHS England. Susan also has expertise in relation to appeals to the First Tier Tribunal. She is regularly instructed in applications for inclusion in the Pharmaceutical List (market entry applications) and appeals to NHS Resolution, acting as solicitor advocate in the latter.

Susan advises on legal issues for care homes; including CQC requirements and medicines management issues.

She advises on inquests, public and administrative law (including judicial review) and acts for healthcare clients in relation to prosecutions, mainly high value fraud, brought by the CPS and other prosecuting agencies. Susan has also had involvement with fatal accident claims and HSE investigations.

In 2015 Susan was appointed to an MHRA advisory board (Advisory Board for the Registration of Homeopathic Products) and has since also been appointed to the MHRA Pharmacovigilance Expert Advisory Group.

Susan is admitted to practise in England and Wales.

Career highlights include:

• Challenged a search and freezing order made against a pharmacist by a CCG with the result that the order was discharged and the case against the pharmacist was dropped • Represented dentists sued by the NHS in relation to clawback of monies from unmet UDA target in a landmark decision where the court held that the method of calculation used by the NHS was flawed • Challenged a NHS market entry decision by way of judicial review; the action was compromised before a final hearing and sent back to the decision maker for an ultimately favourable determination • At a GPhC Fitness to Practise hearing, provided innovative conditions to allow a suspended pharmacist to practise safely and so preserve his livelihood

English

ARDL and PLEA (Pharmacy Law and Ethics Association