Hilary King

Hilary joined Hempsons in 1987 and, after being a partner for a number of years, became a consultant in 2001. Hilary enjoys advising on a wide range of issues affecting the NHS.

One of the areas Hilary covers is contractual disputes. This may be a dispute between NHS England and a GP practice about some aspect of the GMS/PMS contract or a dispute between a trust and one of its supplier of goods or services. Recently, for example, she has been dealing with a number of disputes about the terms on which locums have supplied to the NHS and problems with a company which archives records and wouldn’t release them, a cleaning company whose services were not up to standard and a supplier of a computer system. Hilary also deals with disputes which arise from time to time within GP partnerships.

Hilary particularly enjoys advising on the legislation which either governs or affects the NHS. This includes a diverse range of topics such as how to apply the rules about overseas visitor charges, data protection and freedom of information, the supply of medicines and, recently, a particular interest of hers, the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme.

Linked to this is Hilary’s experience in drafting statutory regulations for regulatory bodies on such issues as registration, renewal of registration, continuing education requirements and fees.

Hilary also covers performance issues (particularly relating to GPs) and fitness to practice cases of which she has many years experience. This extends to advising membership organisations about problems they may encounter regarding the suitability of a particular individual to continue in membership.

Main areas of expertise

• administrative and regulatory law, especially regarding the NHS and regulatory bodies
• contractual disputes
• primary medical services
• pharmaceutical services and the supply of medicines
• Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency Scheme
• partnership disputes

The clients she works with

• NHS trusts
• clinical commissioning groups
• commissioning support units
• NHS England’s area teams
• GPs and GP partnerships
• regulatory bodies
• charities
• private clients

Professional Memberships

• The Law Society