Academic Profile

After careers in social work and legal practice, I became a legal academic with lectureships at the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool and now Sheffield. I have taught administrative/public law, contract, environmental and European law but I now convene and teach Torts, Principles of Healthcare Law and Ethics and Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Technology. In parallel with these activities, I have been involved in the NHS for over 25 years, mostly as a non-executive director of acute hospital boards. I was Chairperson of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust for nine years and currently serve as a Non-executive Director at Leeds Teaching NHS Trust. This has afforded me opportunities to focus my research on how the law might strengthen the rights of the individual citizen in the field of health care law and policy. I am part of a network of multi-disciplinary research collaborators in the national and international context, in particular the Northern Genetics Knowledge Park, the Institute of Human Genetics in Newcastle, TREAT-NMD (Translational Research in Europe – Assessment and Treatment of Neuromuscular Diseases) Ethics Committee, the EU Neuromics Ethics Committee and the University of Lubeck in Germany.

Qualifications

LLB (Hons.), Dip. LP, MA., University of Sheffield.

Teaching and Learning

I am a strong proponent of research-led and research-based teaching. This is reflected in my undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare law and ethics teaching which takes into account the realities of clinical practice in the NHS. It also addresses the challenges of regulating developing biotechnologies in the global context.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Torts Law	Principles of Health Law and Policy (Convenor)
Principles of Healthcare Law and Technology (Convenor)	Vulnerable Patients in Healthcare Practice (Convenor)
Regulating Healthcare (Convenor)

Research Interests

• the rights of the individual citizen in the field of health care law and policy
• using human rights frameworks and empirical evidence to enhance the position of children and other vulnerable patients in the health care setting
• children in research
• children and health care policy-making
• end-of-life issues: general and jurisdictional comparison

Member of the Centre for the Study of Law in Society research cluster.

Areas of Research Supervision

Medical Law and Ethics

Key Publications

Hagger, L. and Woods, S. (2013) A Good Death? Law and Ethics in Practice edited collection. Abingdon: Ashgate Publishing

Woods, S., Hagger, L. and McCormack, P. (2012) Therapeutic Misconception: Hope, Trust and Misconception in Paediatric Research for Rare Diseases. Healthcare Analysis.

Rehmann-Sutter, C. and Hagger, L. (2011) Assisted Suicide by Organizations in England?’ Health Care Analysis.

Hagger, L. and Hagger-Johnson, G. (2011) Super kids: regulating the use of cognitive and psychological enhancements in children. Law, Innovation and Technology, 3(1), 137-166

Chico, V. and Hagger, L. (2011) The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and mature minors: wise legislation or a missed opportunity? Journal of Social Welfare and Family, 33(2), 157 - 168

Hagger, L. (2009) The Child as Vulnerable Patient: Protection and Empowerment, Abingdon: Ashgate

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

‘Empowering Children in the UK Mental Health Setting’, 19th World Congress on Medical Law, Meceio, Brazil, 7-10 August 2012

Panel speaker, ‘Should Assisted Suicide be Legalised?’, The Exchange, Sheffield University Students’ Union, 27 March 2012 with Prof, S. Ahmedzai, Professor of Palliative Medicine in the University of Sheffield Department of Oncology and a member of the Commission on Assisted Dying; Dr. Andrew Fergusson, GP and a board member of the Care Not Killing campaign and Dominica Roberts, Chairman of the ProLife Alliance

Keynote speaker, ‘The Child as Patient: Competence and Decision-making’, Children and Mental Health Conference, Manchester Civil Justice Centre, 24 February 2012.

Keynote speaker, ‘What is different about paediatric trials?’, Children and Clinical Trials,, Nuffield Council of Bioethics international conference, 9 December 2011 (speakers included: Professor Søren Holm, Professor of Bioethics, University of Manchester and Dr Agnès Saint Raymond

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Member of TREAT-NMD (Translational Research in Europe – Assessment and Treatment of Neuromuscular Diseases) Ethics Committee, EU Sixth Framework Programme
• Member, EU Neuormics Ethics Committee
• Non-executive Director, Leeds Teaching NHS Trust
• Member, Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust Clinical Ethics Forum