Category: Duty of care

Breakingbury v Croad: non-delegable duty in dental negligence

Ted Cunningham discusses this case concerning a dental practice’s owner’s non-delegable duty, where judgment was handed down in April by His Honour Judge Harrison, sitting at Cardiff County Court. The judgment can be accessed here, on the website of the solicitors for the claimant. In short, the Learned Judge held that Mr Croad, a former dentist who had been retired for 20 years and who had sold his practice many years before the litigation commenced, owed a non-delegable duty of care to the Claimant at the material time.

Wrongful Birth Revisited: Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21 – a reminder

To get us all up to speed ahead of this Supreme Court judgment, which is due to be handed down on Friday 28 May, Helen Waller has helpfully set out the background to this case, the decisions of the lower courts, and a summary of the law on wrongful birth claims. We will update this blog post in the next few days with the result of the Supreme Court decision and our analysis of it.

Provision of medical services to NHS patients by a third party – does the NHS Trust owe a duty of care?

In this post, Henry King discusses the case of Hopkins (A Child) v Akramy [2020] EWHC 3445 (QB), in which the court held that an NHS Primary Care Trust did not owe a non-delegable duty of care to protect NHS patients from harm, including harm from the negligent provision of primary medical services by a third party. This case provides useful insight into the court's considerations in a situation where the alleged negligence is by a third party with whom the NHS has contracted to provide healthcare services.

COVID-19 and Clinical Negligence Claims

Here, Henry Charles, Michael Brace and Lizzie Boulden explain why they consider that COVID-19 related clinical negligence claims arising out of redeployed healthcare professionals are unlikely to succeed on the present law. This should provide considerable comfort to healthcare professionals who are not only bravely risking their lives, but who are also working in unfamiliar roles in the national effort to fight the pandemic.

ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust & Ors [2020] EWHC 455 (QB)   Does a doctor owe a duty of care to disclose a hereditary disease to a patient’s child?

In this post Helen Waller of 12KBW discusses Mrs Justice Yip’s dismissal of a claim that sought to establish that a doctor owed a duty of care to disclose a patient’s hereditary disease to his child. An earlier appeal of a strike out application in this tragic case has already been reported on by Rachit … Continue reading ABC v St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust & Ors [2020] EWHC 455 (QB)   Does a doctor owe a duty of care to disclose a hereditary disease to a patient’s child? →

“But for” vs Material Contribution and the burden of proof – Andrews v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2019] CSOH 31

In this post Vanessa Cashman of 12KBW examines the recent decision of Lord Pentland [siting in the Outer House of the Scottish Court of Session] in Andrews v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2019] CSOH 31. Summary The deceased attended hospital with vomiting and diarrhoea, both black in colour and was discharged with a diagnosis of … Continue reading “But for” vs Material Contribution and the burden of proof – Andrews v Greater Glasgow Health Board [2019] CSOH 31 →

Early Chemo-prophylaxis in Neurosurgery and The Battle of The Experts: Lesforis v Tolias

In this post Daniel Sokol of 12KBW examines the recent decision of the Court of Appeal in YVONNE LESFORIS v CHRISTOS TOLIAS [2019] EWCA Civ 487. In May 2018, Mr Justice Spencer found that Mr Christos Tolias, a consultant neurosurgeon, had been negligent in giving his patient heparin too early following spinal surgery. This led … Continue reading Early Chemo-prophylaxis in Neurosurgery and The Battle of The Experts: Lesforis v Tolias →