A common source of worry for students is interviews. They can be scary things when you have never done one!

We incorporate interviews into our work experience process. We often hear that this is great experience for students who may well have limited experience of interviews, especially for legal work experience placements which are highly competitive.

There are some things to remember and some ways you can prepare for work experience interviews at Lanyon Bowdler:

1. Try to stay relaxed

Our interviews are informal and designed to give us a chance to get to know each other. We know you might be nervous and that’s ok! The interview isn’t there to catch you out or put you on the spot. We know interviews can be daunting and we have all been there so we know exactly how you feel. Do your best to relax and remember it’s your opportunity to get to know us too!

2. Be prepared to talk about yourself

We like to hear about you. If you have something interesting on your CV, we will definitely ask about it – we love hearing about your hobbies and interests and what you’re studying. You are the absolute best authority on you, so this is a real time to shine and enjoy telling us about yourself.

3. Make a note of any questions you have

You will always have the opportunity to ask questions, and there is no such thing as a silly question. It is easy to forget what you wanted to ask in the moment though, so a note of a few key things you want to know can be really helpful to have available.

We also have a podcast episode on work experience for anyone who would like to learn more!

In a message to patients on 22 June 2022, Donnington Medical Practice in Telford has indicated that they are now only prioritising ‘urgent’ assistance for patients due to staffing issues.

This message lacks any meaningful detail and raises significant concerns as to the meaning of ‘urgency’ in this context. In particular, there is no guidance as to:

• What constitutes ‘urgent’ medical assistance?
• Where should patients go in the first instance?
• How do patients know what is "urgent" and what is not?
• How does this fit in with ‘urgent’ assistance that requires urgent hospital treatment?
• Are patients better off seeking assistance at A&E or elsewhere?
• How patients are to obtain prescriptions, test results and medications?

Laura Weir, an associate solicitor with Shrewsbury based law firm, Lanyon Bowdler, said: "This message may have unintended and potentially devastating consequences for patients and their families. The worrying lack of detail will likely discourage patients from seeking help who unknowingly require urgent medical assistance. Additionally, this shift in priority will likely exacerbate the current backlog of appointments, creating even further delays for patients who are already in dire need of medical treatment."

Donnington Medical Practice has not provided any further guidance or criteria in relation to this notice, and so the matter of ‘urgency’ remains unclear.

The Nottingham Maternity Unit was rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in 2020 and a review, similar to that completed by Donna Ockenden into the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (SaTH), began. The review relates directly to the Nottingham University Hospital (NUH) Trust after repeated examples of poor care were uncovered along with failures to investigate.

The CQC issued a warning notice in March 2022 highlighting specific concerns over triage services and increased stillbirths. Nineteen serious incidents were reported by maternity staff between March 2021 and February 2022, as well as five current Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch investigations. The CQC warning was issued having identified that staff were not always carrying out observations to make sure patients’ conditions were not deteriorating, and that triage wait times were too long.

Families involved in the review previously sought the input of Donna Ockenden in the Nottingham review due to a lack of confidence in the clinical team involved, the extremely slow pace of the review and the increasing numbers of families coming forward. The original remit was too narrow and considered not independent enough.

An interim report was published in April 2022, which highlighted that maternity services nationally were ‘under immense scrutiny’, in light of reports such as that conducted by Ockenden into SaTH. Evidence of ‘bullying behaviour’ had been uncovered with some staff displaying ‘unacceptable behaviours such as being rude and abrasive’. Sharon Wallis, director of the midwifery unit at NUH said “our teams are working hard to make the necessary improvements, but recognise we have more to do and are absolutely determined to speed up the pace of change and deliver quality services”.

NHS England have now confirmed that Donna Ockenden will chair a new team with new terms of reference into the review of the maternity services at NUH. Sir David Sloman, Chief Operating Officer for NHS England has said he has “taken on board various views” those concerned with the original review team have shared. Ockenden will develop terms, which reflect both the need to drive urgent improvements to local maternity care and the need to deliver actionable recommendations, which can be implemented as quickly as possible. No timescale has yet been confirmed however.

This announcement is no doubt welcomed by those families involved and will hopefully result in a robust review. This change in leadership comes as a result of the families campaigning for Donna Ockenden’s involvement, and some even publishing personal details of their cases online in a desperate bid to be heard by those in charge.

Donna Ockenden taking over as chair of the review offers hope that the failings at NUH, specifically the maternity unit, will be uncovered and hopefully encourage ongoing and future care to be improved. She has commented that her first priority is to listen to those families affected and notes that the CQC safety warning, and the stories shared already, indicates ‘something that is very, very wrong at the trust’.

Lanyon Bowdler are supporting hundreds of families under Donna Ockenden’s review into the maternity care at SaTH. If you or your family have been affected by poor maternity care either under SaTH or Nottingham, please speak to a member of our specialist team.