Meet the Team - Aneurin Bevan
The Aneurin Bevan team sits within the clinical negligence department of NWSSP Legal & Risk Services. Alison Walcot is the team lead and she is supported by a team of senior and junior solicitors, comprising of Gareth Rees, Charlotte Morgan, Ross Flay and Lucy Clarke. In addition to the solicitors, the team has two paralegals, Robert Hoddy and Robyn Kelly. Last member of the team but by no means least is our team secretary, Mandy Jones, the person who makes it all tick.
The team acts for the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board which covers the geographical area of Gwent. The team have a varied case load which is formed of high value and complex cases, such as brain injuries, to lower value cases such as missed fractures. The team acts for the Health Board in relation to some of its more difficult inquests and advises on an ad hoc basis regarding others. The team also provides the Health Board with advice on some of their more complex Putting Things Right cases. Alison was a dentist in a previous life and therefore deals with many of the dental claims for all of the Health Boards in Wales.
The Aneurin Bevan team doubles up as Legal & Risk Services' Costs Team. The team advise Health Boards on some of the more difficult costs matters which are often transferred to Alison or another member of the team from other solicitors in the office. The team also use their skills and understanding to provide assistance with general costs queries within Legal & Risk services and to provide in-house training and Guidance Documents for some of the more junior members of staff. The knowledge and expertise of the costs team is a valuable asset to Legal & Risk services, which was recognised when the team was awarded ‘runner up’ in the Shared Services Partnership Taking Responsibility award in 2017.
As well as providing legal advice, the team often engage with their clients by providing legal lectures and training sessions to members of the medical profession at various stages in their careers, as well as to legal services managers from the Welsh Health Boards as part of client development days and training days. The feedback from these sessions has always been very positive, with the team often invited to provide repeat sessions of successful lectures.
Alison has worked for the Aneurin Bevan Health Board and its previous guises since 1996 (before Robyn was born!) and Gareth and Charlotte have also acted for the Board since they qualified as solicitors. Gareth, Charlotte and Ross all trained with Legal & Risk Services with Ross leaving for a short period to work for a Defendant firm in England upon qualification, before returning in July 2016. Lucy joined Legal & Risk in 2017 after completing her training contract with a Claimant firm. Robert was a paralegal with a Claimant's solicitors firm in Cardiff undertaking clinical negligence work before he joined Legal & Risk in 2018. Robyn also joined us in 2018 and is a student paralegal spending two days a week in university studying for her law degree and three days a week with Legal & Risk. Mandy joined the team in 2016 and has provided the team with valuable support and assistance ever since!
The Aneurin Bevan team are not just boring lawyers. Outside work the team members have many interests. Alison can often be found walking around the many peaks of South Wales and growing vegetables in her garden. Gareth is an enthusiastic but poor golfer who enjoys watching many sports and likes to read about history in his spare time. Charlotte is a keen runner and enjoys nothing more than jetting off to discover a new city. Ross is an avid Swansea City football fan, much to the displeasure of a lot of his colleagues in Cardiff... Lucy likes to bake and swim and enjoys travelling, recently spending time exploring South East Asia. Robert is also a keen traveller and spent a year working in West Africa. He also enjoys reading, films and cooking. Robyn follows the team trend with the travelling bug but also likes reading, watching films and going to concerts. She also coaches an all girls rugby team. Finally, in Mandy's spare time she helps her husband run a judo club, enjoys walking her two German Shepherds and is also an excellent baker, as members of the team will profess.
The Aneurin Bevan Team is a very open and approachable team, who are happy to deal with any future queries from our clients.