Even if you can show that there was a breach
of the duty of care the case still may not
succeed unless it can be shown that the
breach causing damage.
For example, a
doctor may miscalculate a drug dose so that
a patient is given an overdose. Clearly
there has been a breach of duty of care, as
no reasonable doctor should make this type
of mistake. However, the overdose may have
caused no harm. In that case the absence of
damage would mean that the claim would fail.
You can only recover damages for damage
caused by the breach of duty of care. In one
case a hospital failed to diagnose that a
patient was suffering from poisoning and the
patient died. However, the court accepted
that the patient would have died even if his
condition had been promptly diagnosed and
treated and the claim failed. The breach of
duty had not by itself caused death.
A useful test is to ask yourself whether
the damage would have occurred if there had
been no negligence. If it would have, it
cannot have been caused by the breach of
duty and the Trust will not be liable for
that damage and you must consider very
carefully your proposed action.
Please submit an enquiry to one of the
panel solicitors who will be able to supply
you with case histories and the benefit of
his/her experience.
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