Academic programme

LECTURERS AND SEMINARS

Summer Law School on Medical Law is 14 days of academic summer program giving students the opportunity to study abroad in Olomouc (Czech Republic). This outstanding summer school offers delegates to participate in seminars, tutorials and moot court to learn more about Medical law. We offer 14 days long programs (focused on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Healthcare). During the summer school participants will be able to see real autopsy at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Olomouc.

SEMINAR ANNOTATION

Basic Issues of Evidence in Litigation Arising from Medical Care

The application of modern medicine inevitably leads to mistakes and wrong treatment committed by the health care providers towards patients. They may result in liability and, in consequence, legal disputes. If the health care sector is to successfully develop and, at the same time, rights of the patients to be protected, it is necessary that justified claims be compensated but also that unjustified claims be dismissed. For fair resolution of litigation arising from asserted liability for medical malpractice, sufficient and correct finding of facts is necessary. The fact may then allow the court to legally determine whether the claim in question is justified or not.

The elementary building blocks of civil liability as perceived in civil litigation will be discussed, especially which facts must be proved, who has the burden of proof in their respect, how convincing the proof must be and what techniques are available to make such burden lighter. These may comprise e.g. factual presumptions, liability for loss of chance or other proportional liability. Current Czech law, including also recent case-law of Czech courts, concerning these issues will be presented.

SEMINAR ANNOTATION

Medical mediation and its use in the palliative care

As a preface to the conflict resolution, the seminar will shortly cover the end-of-life decisions and their legal framework. It will identify the major sources of conflict and possible ways to mitigate it. As to conflict resolution the seminar will introduce the concept of medical mediation and its use in the palliative care – the parties to be included, the steps to be taken in order to reach an agreement and the implementation of the agreement.

ABOUT LECTURER

MUDr. ThLic. Jaromír Matějek, Ph.D., Th.D is an employee of the Institute of Ethics and Humanities of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, employee of ethical counseling at the Královské Vinohrady University Hospital. In 2019 he received the highest German qualification in ethical counseling in health care [Ethikberater / Koordinator / Trainer für Ethikberatung im Gesundheitswesen (AEM), Göttingen]. His next topic is the previously expressed wishes of patients.
He is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and a member of the Committee for Pediatric Palliative Care at the Czech Society of Palliative Medicine.

SEMINAR ANNOTATION

Ethics Consultations Service - Practical Aid for Resolving Ethical and Communication Problems in Everyday Clinical Practice

This lecture brings complex overview of the ethics consultations services in hospitals. It is based on experience from US, German and Czech environment. The lecture presents definition of the services, structures and ways of providing, methodology of clinical case ethics consultations (communication and ethical level) and role of the ethics consultations services in improving of organizational culture.

ABOUT LECTURER

Doc. PhDr. Lenka Holá, Ph.D. has worked for many years in helping professions, now she focuses on out-of-court dispute resolution methods, especially mediation, at the Faculty of Law of Palacký University in Olomouc. She has been dealing with her for nearly twenty years, both theoretically and practically. She is the author or co-author of five mediation monographs. It organizes international scientific conferences on mediation. She has worked as a mediator in criminal and family matters, in consumer disputes, and now she writes as a registered mediator a wide range of civil litigation. In the field of health disputes, she participated with colleagues from the Faculty of Medicine of Palacký University in Olomouc in the creation of the Ministry of Health project "Mediation in Health Care." Implementation into practice ”. It deals with the issue of professionalization of mediators, led the ESF project to create a system of lifelong learning for mediators. She works as a lecturer and supervisor of mediation teams. She was a member of the MSp Working Group for the Act on Mediation and Mediation Examination Conditions under Act. No. 202/2012 Coll. She is an examiner and chairwoman of a mediator exam committee and family mediation exams. She is a member of the Czech Ministry of Justice's working group for mediation.

SEMINAR ANNOTATION

Specifics of Mediation in Health Care

With the development of medicine, bioethics, an aging population and the application of patients' rights, the number of conflicts in health is increasing. This is related to the question of patient involvement in deciding on their treatment and exercising their rights in the event of harm. If we are talking about harm, then we understand it more widely as material and non-material harm. Disputes over compensation for health injuries are extremely complex litigation. Not only factually but also legally complicated in view of the possible assessment of liability for them and the determination of adequate compensation. However, the relationship between the doctor and the patient is disturbed by the conflict. Traditional solutions, such as complaints or the initiation of legal proceedings, polarize their relationship. Healthcare facilities therefore have already established patient complaint systems. Yet the participants in the conflict often do not feel satisfied with how their complaint has been dealt with. At the same time, it is the health care facilities that have a stronger position to choose how to resolve disputes with patients and can often avoid the lawsuit inconvenience. One way to manage this situation satisfactorily is mediation.

The aim of the workshop is to characterize mediation in health care as one of the specific application areas of mediation. In particular, we will focus on psychosocial factors, identify its strengths and limitations. We will also try and realize everything on practical exercises and model situations.

ABOUT LECTURER

JUDr. Mgr. Martin Šolc (born 1991) studied law at the Law Faculty of Charles University and applied ethics at the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. He is currently an internal doctoral student at the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law of Charles University and a researcher at the Center for Health Law at the same faculty. In addition to civil law, he focuses on health law and its context with bioethics, especially in relation to medical research and genetics. He is a co-author of the book Health Law (Wolters Kluwer, 2016), and he is also the author of the monograph Law, Ethics and Stem Cells (Wolters Kluwer, 2018), and also publishes in journals. He teaches civil and medical law at the Law Faculty of Charles University and occasionally also at the 3rd Medical Faculty of Charles University.

SEMINAR ANNOTATION

Importance of timely and open communication for the prevention actions

The recommendation that healthcare professionals can sometimes hear in legal liability training is never to admit a mistake to the patient without consulting a lawyer. Indeed, the widespread fear of complaints and complaints, even without expert advice, leads some health professionals to conceal their failures. This keeps a culture of silence that manifests itself through a wide range of negotiations, from patient avoidance to tampering with medical records. Such behavior by healthcare professionals and health service providers is based on simple intuition that the best defense against the legal consequences of error is its concealment in the sense of an old legal proverb "where there is no plaintiff, there is no judge".

However, there is a lively discussion in foreign literature, especially American literature, as to whether this intuition corresponds to reality. Indeed, a number of studies suggest that timely communication of complete information and apologies may actually reduce the risk of action. If this hypothesis is true, open communication with patients and their families is not only beneficial for patient safety, but is also beneficial for healthcare providers. They are then particularly motivated to implement early disclosure and aplogy programs. It seems that a situation arises from which all participants benefit.

However, the question is whether a timely excuse actually reduces the number of actions and, if so, under what conditions. When looking for an answer, we first focus on the motivation of the injured to bring an action against the health service provider. Subsequently, we will analyze the available evidence on the relationship of early apology and the frequency of actions for damages. Finally, we will try to identify those parameters of the early information and apology program that are most advantageous for the injured, for patient safety in general, and for health service providers.

ABOUT LECTURER

JUDr. Anna Šturmová graduated at the Faculty of Law of Palacky University in Olomouc. She is a medical law practitioner. After passing the bar exams, since 2014, she has been a lawyer at the University Hospital in Olomouc and since 2017 she works as a lawyer for a private healthcare provider from Slovakia. She is interested in health care innovation projects and resolving conflicts between healthcare providers and recipients of healthcare services. Nowadays she lives in Olomouc.