THE ROLE OF CLINICAL GUIDELINES IN MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE LITIGATION: A SHIFT FROM THE BOLAM STANDARD?

摘要

In medical negligence litigation, a key step is for the claimant to prove that the physician failed to meet the required standard of care. The traditional test in law in such cases remains the Bolam test: a doctor is not negligent if what he has done would be endorsed by a responsible body of medical opinion in the relevant speciality at the material time.The standard has been seen by some commentators as one set by the medical profession and evidenced by expert testimony, with minimal court scrutiny, and it has been suggested that stricter evaluation of such opinion would be welcome.The decision in Bolitho suggests that the court should adopt a more interventionist stance in assessing expert evidence and in setting the standard of care. One such approach towards a more objective measure in determining the legal standard of care could be through the use of clinical guidelines ('guidelines').