Tracy Sell-Peters

Practice Areas

Tracy is an expert in healthcare litigation which comprises claims, regulatory, advisory, criminal, inquest and inquiry work. In terms of her claims expertise, it includes advising on complex and high-value clinical negligence claims spanning the medical specialities. She has done a particularly significant number of brain injury and spinal surgery cases as well as orthopaedic, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, neurology and neurosurgery claims, brought against surgeons and physicians working both in the NHS and in their private capacity. She has vast experience of defending GPs and out-of-hours organisations, as well as care homes, hospital groups and agencies working in these environments.

In her regulatory work, Tracy defends doctors, dentists and other healthcare practitioners whose registration is called into question by the General Medical Council (GMC) and other healthcare regulatory bodies (GDC, NMC, GOC, HCPC). Practitioners also turn to Tracy for representation in independent inquiries, including serious untoward incident inquiries and complex inquests, including deaths in custody. Tracy has defended many practitioners in fitness-to-practise hearings before their regulators as well as dealing with appeals arising from those proceedings.

Tracy is well regarded when it comes to healthcare litigation and often represents doctors in Maintaining High Professional Standards (MHPS) NHS disciplinary proceedings and private hospital investigations. She has particular expertise in representing practitioners who face proceedings, often consecutively, in numerous different arenas (criminal, inquest, regulatory, disciplinary and claims).

Judicial Review challenges are also a specialism of Tracy’s. She advises Medical Royal Colleges and professional bodies. She has been involved in a prominent case for the General Optical Council, including the prosecution of the remitted hearing. She has defended a number of different regulators in PSA and Judicial Review challenges.

In addition to the above, Tracy also acts for insurers, defence organisations and private clients and is fluent in both French and English, and speaks German.

Career

Tracy qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales in 1996. She is also qualified in Ontario, Canada, as a Barrister and Solicitor. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2022, she worked at the following firms:

DWF

Fishburns

Radcliffes Le Brasseur

Beachcroft

Experience

Successfully defended a GP before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal in a 10-day listed case of alleged digital and metal speculum instrument intimate (vaginal) examination, with every allegation not proven, no misconduct found and the GP’s fitness to practise found not to be impaired.

Acting on behalf of the General Optical Council (GOC) in a challenge brought by the Professional Standards Authority against a decision made by the GOC’s own Fitness to Practise Committee against a Registered Optometrist charged charged with gross negligence manslaughter in 2013 in connection with the death of a 7-year-old patient from papilloedema (swelling of the optic nerve). This is an important case for the optometry profession – arguably as important as Bawa-Garba was for doctors.

Successfully defended a registered nurse in criminal proceedings charged with the wilful neglect of a care home resident who suffered from dementia. Also instructed to represent the nurse’s interests in the regulatory investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

High-value orthopaedic claim (£5+million) representing a surgeon in respect of a patient who underwent a right total knee replacement in 2016 under the care of an orthopaedic surgeon, and the private hospital where the surgery and aftercare took place.

Acted on behalf of the owner of an out-of-hours service provider in a claim by a claimant who was aged 9 months at the date of the alleged negligence (delay in diagnosis and treatment of pneumococcal meningitis).

Representing a medical indemnity insurer and its insured gynaecologist, on a joint retainer to defend a substantial clinical negligence claim involving alleged mismanagement of the claimant’s abdominal mass which turned out to be a very rare ovarian cancer.