Health and Social Care

Founding partners Alex Rook, Polly Sweeney and Anne-Marie Irwin are all specialists in public law and human rights law, all having experience of judicial review matters relating to health and social care and mental capacity. – Legal 500, 2023

Very niche firm with real understanding of controversial issues. Highly impressive. – Legal 500, 2023

Rook Irwin Sweeney LLP has quickly developed a strong specialism in public law and human rights matters within the healthcare sector. – Legal 500, 2023

Many people rely on vital support from their local authority or the NHS to meet their health and social care needs. If things go wrong, we’re here to help.

We’ve acted in many of the leading health and social care cases over the last decade, having taken cases to secure our clients’ rights to the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. We have particular expertise in bringing strategic cases which have a wider social impact, often working with charities, NGOs and campaign groups.

We advise on a wide range of health and social care issues, including:

• Eligibility for assessment under the Care Act 2014 and the Children Act 1989
• Eligibility for social care and continuing healthcare
• Disputes about community care and continuing healthcare packages, including funding disputes, cuts and reductions to care packages
• Continuing healthcare disputes and appeals
• Closures of health and social care services, including day centres, health services and care homes
• Consultations relating to healthcare and social care, local authority and NHS policies
• Cases relating to the public sector equality duty and the Equality Act 2010
• Local authority and NHS budget cuts
• Personal budgets, personal health budgets and direct payments
• Eligibility for medical treatment, including individual funding requests
• Withdrawal of life-sustaining medical treatment, and ‘ceilings’ of care

If you’re affected by these or any other issues relating to health and social care, we’re here to help you find a solution.