PRACTICAL UPDATE IN CLINICAL NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS
17 November 2026 –2.00pm – 4.00pm
Dr Niall Jones – AI, Surgery and the Law
Mr Alastair Graham – ‘The Heart Team Has Decided – But Has the Patient?
Consent and Multidisciplinary Decision-Making in Cardiothoracic Surgery’
Fiachra Breathnach BL – Recent Practice Directions and Judgments
CHAIRS
Avril Scally, Member of Litigation Committee and Healthcare Partner at Lavelle Partners LLP.
Jenny Foley, Member of Litigation Committee and Healthcare Partner, RDJ LLP
SPEAKERS
Dr Niall Jones, Consultant Neonatal and Paediatric Surgeon
Dr Niall Jones MD FRCSI FRSM MclinLead PGCertLaws is a Neonatal and Paediatric Surgeon with 30 years clinical experience in teaching hospitals stretching from the west of Ireland to Hobart, Tasmania. A keen advocate for improving surgical outcomes and patient safety he is currently Adjunct Professor of Clinical Surgery at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi. He combines clinical insight with operational, legal and ethics acumen currently concentrating on things medico-legal-ethical. He has completed a Diploma in Project Management and is currently more than half-way through an LLM in Medical Law & Ethics with the University of London. He is excited by the emergence of AI in Surgery and is thrilled to collaborate with Bioethicists to explore AI-associated benefits, opportunities and challenges for patients and organisations. Niall leads the Scientific Ethics Advisory Group at Roche pharmaceuticals company which is an external independent group of multidisciplinary ethicists advising Roche on pharma-related ethical quandaries.
Mr Alastair Graham, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon
Mr Alastair Graham is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast; Blackrock Clinic, Dublin and St James’s Hospital, Dublin. He trained in Belfast and at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, and was awarded an MD ny thesis from Queen’s University, Belfast for research in lung cancer pathology. His clinical practice has encompassed Cardiac surgery for 26 years, and Thoracic surgery for more than 22 years. He served as Clinical Director( for 13 years), Governance Lead and Training Programme Director for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Northern Ireland
Fiachra Breathnach BL
Fiachra was called to the Bar in 2011. He was elected to the Bar Council in 2025 and is the current Chair of the Library Committee.
Fiachra specialises in the area of Medical Law including Clinical Negligence and Inquests.
solicitors sustain performance and wellbeing in legal practice. She is also a practising trainee psychotherapist, currently completing her final year of a BSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy, and a qualified Coach. Her therapeutic interests include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), person-centred and existential approaches, with a particular focus on self-compassion, self-awareness and supporting individuals to develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves.