The Supreme Court will today hear this case involving the liability of NHS Receptionists following allegations of negligence after a permanent brain injury was sustained by the claimant. Philip Havers QC leads Bradley Martin of 2 Temple Gardens and is instructed by Cassius Box of Capsticks for the Defendant in Darnley v Croyden Health Services, which could have significant ramifications for clinical negligence law.
The case was brought after the claimant suffered an assault resulting in a head wound. He sought help from Accident & Emergency at Croydon Health Services and a receptionist asked him to wait and gave him an estimated waiting time. After waiting for nineteen minutes, the claimant left the hospital untreated and returned home. Unfortunately his condition deteriorated and, by the time he had returned to the hospital in an ambulance, he had developed permanent brain damage. The Court of Appeal found that there was no breach of duty as the receptionist offered the information as a matter of courtesy.
Learn more about this complex case below:
