B. Medical negligence
Medical practitioners
Medical negligence occurs when a medical practitioner (such as a doctor, a nurse or radiographer), professing special skill and knowledge, fails to exercise the reasonable care and skill expected of an ordinarily competent practitioner in his speciality.
A medical practitioner may be liable to a patient in contract or tort, and in some cases duties may also be owed to non-patients where foreseeability and proximity are present.
A wrong diagnosis by itself is not automatically negligence. The real question is whether the doctor failed to carry out a test or examination that the symptoms required, reached a conclusion no reasonably competent doctor would reach, prescribed incorrectly, or failed to refer a case beyond the doctor’s competence.
Common examples of negligence include misdiagnosis, prescribing the wrong dose, surgical mistakes, failure to monitor or provide proper follow-up care, and failure to warn the patient of material treatment risks or inform the patient of reasonable alternatives.
Hospitals
Hospitals are vicariously liable for the negligence of their employed staff.
Hospitals are also directly liable for negligent treatment, even if the medical practitioner at fault was an independent contractor because hospitals owe a non-delegable duty of care to their patients.
Hospitals may also face direct liability for organisational faults, such as failing to have adequate diagnostic equipment or failing to retrieve a patient's previous medical records.
