Clinical Negligence Blogs Archive

In Negus v Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWHC 643 (QB), the High Court considered whether an NHS Trust was responsible for the Claimant’s death, where it was alleged that during cardiac surgery a 19 mm mechanical valve was implanted instead of a larger valve. The Claimant underwent a further operation a year…

The topic of consent has been increasingly contentious since the Supreme Court’s decision in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] AC 1430, which shifted the focus from Bolam-style clinical paternalism to patient autonomy.  On 9 November 2020, the General Medical Council (“GMC”) issued updated guidance on “Decision making and consent”. It is a revision of the core…

In Jarman v Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust [2021] EWHC 323 (QB), the Claimant brought a claim against the Defendant hospital for failing to promptly diagnose Cauda Equina Syndrome (“CES”). This case is of note for two reasons: The Court re-emphasised the urgent nature of CES treatment. The Court provided an overview of…

In Davies v Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWHC 169 (QB), the High Court considered the question of causation in circumstances where the deceased had suffered from acute pneumococcal meningitis.  Ultimately, HHJ Auerbach, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, concluded that if antibiotics had been commenced by 10.40 on 25 February 2015, there…

In Brint v Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust [2021] EWHC 290 (QB), HHJ Platts, sitting as a High Court Judge, declined to make a finding of fundamental dishonesty following the dismissal of the Claimant’s claim for damages, arising from an extravasation injury sustained following a CT scan with contrast carried out at the Defendant’s…

In Hopkins v (1) Akramy (2) Badger Group (3) NHS Commissioning Board [2020] EWHC 3445 (QB), the High Court considered, as a preliminary issue, whether an NHS Primary Care Trust (“PCT”) owed a non-delegable duty of care for health services provided to NHS patients by a private company. HHJ Melissa Clarke, sitting as a Judge of the…

Claims by secondary victims arising from clinical negligence have for many years been a battleground between Claimants and the NHS, particularly where the psychiatric damage that is the subject of the claim occurs many months after the purported breach of duty in respect of the primary victim. Defendants have routinely fought hard when it comes to…

Whilst clinical negligence practitioners are especially accomplished in ensuring that they properly advise their clients to claim an interim payment on account of damages when this best suits their client’s needs, the opportunity of seeking an interim payment on account of costs often slips through the net. “Make Mine a Double” The recent case of IXM…

Clinical negligence cases can be complex enough without the added difficulty of delay in bringing proceedings resulting in a limitation defence. When it is raised by Defendants it is currently common for cases to be managed so that limitation will be tried as a preliminary issue, perhaps because of the possibility of a major costs…

In Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] 1 AC 1430, the Supreme Court held that “[t]he doctor is … under a duty to take reasonable care to ensure that the patient is aware of any material risks involved in any recommended treatment, and of any reasonable alternative or variant treatments. The test of materiality is whether, in…

Travel back seven decades: the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 was given Royal Assent on 15 June 1945; three years later, on 5 July 1948, the NHS was founded. At the level of principle, the statute effected a radical change in the law by abolishing the position at common law by which any negligence…

In the context of clinical negligence cases, causation can be just as tricky to establish as breach, perhaps even more so. The difficulties arise in part because many of these cases involve Claimants who were injured or ill before seeking the treatment or advice that they ultimately complain of, and they remain ill or injured…