Health, Ethics and Law (HEAL) Research Seminar Seminar

'Should healthcare professionals be immune from negligence liability during a pandemic? A comparative analysis’

This paper will consider the impact of Covid-19 on medical negligence claims, and whether the well-established Bolam standard should be lowered, or whether medical professionals should be granted immunity from negligence claims in the UK. Medical professionals have been working under immense pressure since the beginning of the pandemic, and several jurisdictions have put in place immunity legislations to protect them and healthcare institutions from lawsuits for damage caused through medical negligence to patients during the pandemic, such as France and New York state. In the UK, the Medical Defence Union (MDU) has called for a national debate about protecting medical staff from possible COVID-19 negligence claims, arguing that compensation paid following negligence claims ‘would be a further massive drain’ on public health finances (Bowcott, 2020). Meanwhile, some patient groups are demanding justice, and have asked for accountability of governmental decision-makers, and answers in the form of a public inquiry, to learn lessons in the interests of patient safety (Whitaker, 2021). Scholars have expressed concerns that protecting medical professionals and hospitals from negligence claims would be unfair to patients as it ‘would send the worrying message that patients are not entitled to proper care’ (Tomkins, 2020). This paper will explore the justifications used to provide immunity to hospitals, nursing homes and medical professionals from lawsuits in jurisdictions which have enacted immunity legislation such as France and New York State, and the potential benefits and drawbacks of such immunity. The paper will also suggest other types of remedies which could help patients to obtain compensation and answers, such as the creation of an (out of court) no-fault compensation scheme which could provide injured patients with prompt compensation.

 

Where: event held in room 04/4003 + online (see link below)

 

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