The Centre for Health, Law, and Society (CHLS) comprises leading scholars whose work focuses on wide-ranging practical areas from within and far beyond health care systems, including clinical medicine, reproductive care, mental health, social care, and public and global health.
Professor John Coggon, Co-Director of the CHLS, reflected on the reasons he chose a career in health law:
“The importance of law in founding and securing patients' rights in a healthcare setting is now well recognised. I am motivated, working in health law, to look at questions of health and justice in much wider contexts too - law and governance are crucial to assuring the value of health across society and sectors, and achieving greater social justice. It is such an important, exciting, collaborative field of study and practice.”
Together with Co-Director of the CHLS Professor Judy Laing, John edited a recent special issue of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly (NILQ) legal research journal entitled ‘Reviewing the boundaries of health law – new directions and dimensions’, published March 2019 and containing papers authored by eleven members of the CHLS as well as external contributors. The journal issue is a marker of the Centre’s aims to broaden and deepen health law knowledge and promote the next generation of scholarship, following the Centre’s symposium launch event in October 2017.
Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells, Reader in Economic Law and member of the CHLS, whose paper ‘Centralisation of Procurement and Supply Chain Management in the English NHS: Some Governance and Compliance Challenges’ was included in the NILQ legal research journal, said:
“Healthcare is a fascinating living lab for the study of economic and public governance. Given the high-stakes impacts of public health care services on a population's well-being and a country's economic development, it is difficult to think of a more challenging and rewarding field in which to concentrate one's research efforts.”
Albert recently submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee in the inquiry on legislative proposals put forward to support the implementation of the NHS long-term plan.
LLM Health, Law, and Society
The Centre’s LLM in Health, Law, and Society marks an evolution in health law. As a distinctive, master’s level degree it goes beyond traditional courses on healthcare law to look at the relationships between law, governance and health across society and governmental sectors.
Applicants to the September 2019 intake of LLM are invited to apply to a scholarship scheme that is generously funded by the Wellcome Trust. The deadline for applications is 31 May 2019.
Find out how you can help shape health across society in our film introducing the LLM in Health, Law, and Society.