For solicitors investigating clinical negligence claims, understanding how these conditions should be recognised and managed is essential when considering breach of duty, causation and long-term neurological harm.

In this expert-led webinar, Hazel Peet, Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Independent Expert Witness, explores the clinical warning signs, common management failures and medico-legal considerations surrounding alcohol-related hospital admissions.

About the Speaker

Hazel Peet is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Independent Expert Witness with over 18 years of clinical experience and five years of medico-legal experience.

Having qualified as a nurse in 2007 and completed her Master's in Advanced Clinical Practice in 2019, Hazel has extensive experience in emergency medicine, alcohol dependency and the management of complex patients.

Her background includes leading a hospital alcohol specialist nursing service, developing clinical policies and withdrawal management protocols, and delivering training to multidisciplinary healthcare teams.

Her medico-legal expertise includes assessing clinical decision-making, patient deterioration, treatment pathways and failures to recognise or manage alcohol-related complications.

What Does the Webinar Cover?

During the session, Hazel examines how failures in alcohol assessment and treatment can lead to preventable complications, including withdrawal seizures, repeated falls and permanent neurological injury.

Key themes include:

• Recognising alcohol dependence: Why detailed alcohol histories, validated screening tools and previous withdrawal complications matter.
• Managing alcohol withdrawal safely: The importance of appropriate prescribing, monitoring and reassessment throughout admission.
• Identifying Wernicke's encephalopathy: How thiamine deficiency can cause serious neurological damage and why early recognition is critical.
• Understanding treatment failures: The consequences of delayed medication, inadequate monitoring and missed opportunities for escalation.
• Investigating clinical negligence: How medical records, medication charts and case timelines can help solicitors identify potential breaches and causation issues.

Using two clinical case studies, Hazel also explores how incomplete assessments, overlooked neurological symptoms and inadequate care planning can contribute to catastrophic outcomes.

Key Medico-Legal Insights

A diagnosis of alcohol dependence should never replace a comprehensive clinical assessment. Patients experiencing confusion, reduced mobility or deterioration may have multiple underlying conditions that require investigation.

Similarly, prescribing withdrawal medication does not eliminate the need to assess thiamine deficiency. These are separate clinical risks, each requiring appropriate management.

For solicitors, a particularly important consideration is whether the clinical team reassessed and adapted its treatment plan as the patient's condition changed.

Explore the Full Medico-Legal Analysis

From missed Wernicke's diagnoses to withdrawal management failures, our accompanying article examines the key clinical considerations, case examples and evidence solicitors should review when investigating alcohol-related negligence claims.

[Read the full medico-legal article here >]