21. Jul. 2010. – 08:48:20
Harold Shipman was a mass murdering monster. The system that was meant to oversee him was not fit for purpose. It did not have methods nor a philosophy to deal with such depravity. And as a result after innumerable investigations and edicts from high above Whitehall the practice of many professionals in many professions has been changed beyond recognition.
The resultant “tick box” culture is not a sharp journalist’s catchy phrase; it is alive and very well, kicking and screaming like a newborn baby. The Magistrates` Courts system is besotted with it for those employed by Her Majesty`s Court Service. Thankfully my colleagues and I are independent members of the judiciary and owe no such duties to the faceless number crunchers who believe justice can be analysed by a pie chart. However every so often a response sheet comes along for filling in. One such was an analysis of the post court review in the manner of a tick box series of questions. The actual review per se is an important feature to enable brief but frank discussion between and among bench members and their legal adviser to note any points arising in court which could usefully be dissected. For new colleagues especially this is an important learning event. But a year or so ago I was amongst the first chairmen on my bench in a pilot run at our court to be asked to fill in such a form after a sitting. I questioned the need for this with the chairman of the committee responsible for its introduction. I was told that, “We don`t approve of such formality and time wasting but unless we produce a negative impact result it will be foisted upon us”. This time wasting exercise quietly disappeared. Would that those who spend their expensive tax payers money producing such treats for those who are actually contributing to the efforts to make this country function efficiently disappear inside a big black hole.
There are more jokes about lawyers and the legal profession than most others. My favourite is the one about the client who asks his solicitor for advice on a very tricky subject. He gives his opinion but then says that to be 100% sure he must check the statute. He goes to the overloaded and crowded bookshelf, pulls down the appropriate volume and then reads chapter and verse to himself before assuring his client that his advice was rock solid. After accepting the offered thanks and handshake the lawyer asks him to pick up a pre prepared account from his secretary on the way out. Two minutes later the client returns exclaiming, “You`ve charged me £500 + VAT and all you did was take two minutes to look at a book.” “Agreed”, replied the lawyer, “but I knew in which line in which chapter in which book to look up.” Time spent on a job does not in itself guarantee the job done correctly….it`s the quality of utilisation that`s important.
But back to Shipman whose legacy is a blessing for all those whose demise into the big black hole I would heartily endorse.
Contacts within the optical profession have told me that in Scotland this form filling mentality has reached them where the rain rains and the wind whistles. Optometry Scotland the organisation responsible for running the optical department of the NHS there has reminded practitioners that they could claim payment only for a maximum of twenty eye examinations per seven and a half hour working day. This ordinance pays no regard to any variables including practitioner experience or equipment or any patient variables which number to n-1. Inspectors will check on individual practices to enforce compliance
I read yesterday that lawyers in Switzerland oversaw the opening of four safe deposit boxes thought to hold the most precious items in a collection of documents belonging to the great Czech writer Franz Kafka. Six other similar boxes were also opened in Tel Aviv by order of a court there.
This most wonderful of writers of the last century was a Nostradamus for our times. In less than a century since it was written the characters in “The Trial” are alive and well in the U.K.
The resultant “tick box” culture is not a sharp journalist’s catchy phrase; it is alive and very well, kicking and screaming like a newborn baby. The Magistrates` Courts system is besotted with it for those employed by Her Majesty`s Court Service. Thankfully my colleagues and I are independent members of the judiciary and owe no such duties to the faceless number crunchers who believe justice can be analysed by a pie chart. However every so often a response sheet comes along for filling in. One such was an analysis of the post court review in the manner of a tick box series of questions. The actual review per se is an important feature to enable brief but frank discussion between and among bench members and their legal adviser to note any points arising in court which could usefully be dissected. For new colleagues especially this is an important learning event. But a year or so ago I was amongst the first chairmen on my bench in a pilot run at our court to be asked to fill in such a form after a sitting. I questioned the need for this with the chairman of the committee responsible for its introduction. I was told that, “We don`t approve of such formality and time wasting but unless we produce a negative impact result it will be foisted upon us”. This time wasting exercise quietly disappeared. Would that those who spend their expensive tax payers money producing such treats for those who are actually contributing to the efforts to make this country function efficiently disappear inside a big black hole.
There are more jokes about lawyers and the legal profession than most others. My favourite is the one about the client who asks his solicitor for advice on a very tricky subject. He gives his opinion but then says that to be 100% sure he must check the statute. He goes to the overloaded and crowded bookshelf, pulls down the appropriate volume and then reads chapter and verse to himself before assuring his client that his advice was rock solid. After accepting the offered thanks and handshake the lawyer asks him to pick up a pre prepared account from his secretary on the way out. Two minutes later the client returns exclaiming, “You`ve charged me £500 + VAT and all you did was take two minutes to look at a book.” “Agreed”, replied the lawyer, “but I knew in which line in which chapter in which book to look up.” Time spent on a job does not in itself guarantee the job done correctly….it`s the quality of utilisation that`s important.
But back to Shipman whose legacy is a blessing for all those whose demise into the big black hole I would heartily endorse.
Contacts within the optical profession have told me that in Scotland this form filling mentality has reached them where the rain rains and the wind whistles. Optometry Scotland the organisation responsible for running the optical department of the NHS there has reminded practitioners that they could claim payment only for a maximum of twenty eye examinations per seven and a half hour working day. This ordinance pays no regard to any variables including practitioner experience or equipment or any patient variables which number to n-1. Inspectors will check on individual practices to enforce compliance
I read yesterday that lawyers in Switzerland oversaw the opening of four safe deposit boxes thought to hold the most precious items in a collection of documents belonging to the great Czech writer Franz Kafka. Six other similar boxes were also opened in Tel Aviv by order of a court there.
This most wonderful of writers of the last century was a Nostradamus for our times. In less than a century since it was written the characters in “The Trial” are alive and well in the U.K.
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