Who is liable?
In Cassidy v Ministry of Health, courts made it clear that authorities who run a hospital, whether local or government boards or corporations are in law under the same duty of care as any other healthcare professional. It was also emphasised that reasonable care and skill must be exercised when treating patients, and if the staff they employ are negligent, then the employer is just as negligent as the staff hired.
It is unlikely that individual hospital healthcare professionals will be subject to a legal claim, as these are typically made against the hospital as the professional’s vicariously liable employer.
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