Does a doctor own a duty of care to members of a patient’s family where a diagnosis is in error?
We think a very significant judgement was handed down by the Supreme Court recently. It relates to whether a doctor owns a duty of care to members of a patient’s family where a diagnosis is in error.
We all know that the patient’s family suffer every bit as much as the patient in a variety of ways. Importantly, the Court distinguished the doctor patient relationship from other relationships in business or more generally (where a duty can exist for so called secondary victims). The Court found determined this duty does not extend to protecting their close family from the impact that negligent care or treatment could have. The Supreme Court found (at paragraph 138 of the judgment) “to impose such a responsibility on hospitals and doctors would go beyond what, in the current state of our society, is reasonably regarded as the nature and scope of their role”.
This may appear a dry subject, however, for those unfortunate enough to have to deal with this type of situation or for those more generally impacted by medical negligence issues we believe this is a sound decision.
Going forward, this has closed off a whole section of responsibility and will not be a cost driver for the future.