The UK Government’s principal legal adviser, the Government Legal Department (GLD), has restructured its commercial group to reflect an uptick in legal issues affecting the Department of Health (DoH).
The GLD has added a new commercial team to focus purely on NHS commercial agreements by splitting its Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and health legal teams, which have historically been combined.
Around 30 lawyers previously sat in the combined team.
The commercial law group, set up in 2014, is made up of 115 lawyers working across six teams advising on Government departments including the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Department of Education.
“A seventh client-facing team will be made when the DWP and DoH team is split,” said GLD commercial law director Wendy Hardaker.
Hardaker added the restructure would give “more legal support” to the health department, which has “lots of commercial projects at the moment”.
The projects include care reforms, NHS restructuring, pension changes, and reviews of cosmetic surgery procedures.
The split means the GLD’s largest team is now the commercial litigation group, which handles litigation and arbitral claims brought against the Government.
The DoH turns to a panel of external firms including: Addleshaw Goddard, Burges Salmon and Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.
Bevan Brittan, DAC Beachcroft and Mills & Reeve recently won key contracts on the slimmed down NHS Property Services panel, which launched last year.
The Lawyer interviewed GLD corporate legal chief Hardaker about her role and career last week. Read the full interview here.
