At 10:38 pm +1100 12/3/07, Andrew Patterson wrote:
Still they appear to be basing their standard on a legal opinion. This
seems to me to be the tail wagging the dog. To some extent this opinion
will be based on contemporary medical practice, which will no doubt be
influenced by what the RACGP sets as a standard!
Shouldnt we be setting standards ourselves?
Richard,
In Australia, various courts have rejected what is known as
the Bolam Test - a famous case in British tort law that
established that standard professional practice can be
used to establish the boundaries of duty of care.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolam_Test
The Australian rejection of the Bolam
test has occurred in various courts,
but most prominently in Rogers v Whitaker
'that standard is not determined solely or
even primarily by reference to the practice
followed or supported by a responsible body
of opinion in the relevant profession or trade'.
This is not restricted to the medical profession -
an architect can't point to standard architecture
practice to define their duty of care either.
So no, GP's cannot rely on the standards
they set to define their duty of care.
I'm sure the readers of this list have reasonably
strong views with regards this - don't shoot me -
I'm just the messenger!
Andrew
I don't think the Bolam Test is explicitly rejected for all time.
More like the Bolam test was rejected in Rogers V Whitaker, because
it was outweighed by a duty to warn of potentially serious
complications - ie that loss of an eye (in I think a one-eyed person)
was a material risk in knowing that it was not a risk generally
warned (rare and non-crucial in two-eyed people).
I do think GPs can use the Bolam test to define a reasonable standard
of care, but that a legal case is judged on the basis of all the
relevant facts pertaining to the particular case.
Ian.
--
Dr Ian R Cheong, BMedSc, FRACGP, GradDipCompSc, MBA(Exec)
Health Informatics Consultant, Brisbane, Australia
Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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