The Waiting Game

Loo Peh Fern and Siew Ka Yan explain a case of a hospital's liability for misinformation by its non-medically qualified staff.

"Please take a seat, we will attend to you shortly."

The standard expression above is commonly heard upon registering one's attendance at a healthcare service provider. Oftentimes, there is no indication given to the patient as to how long he or she would have to wait before being attended to by a medical staff. This may be so even in the overwhelmed Accident and Emergency ("A&E") departments of hospitals. Waiting times may range from minutes to hours.

The issue of waiting time was at the heart of the UK Supreme Court case of Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust [2018] UKSC 50 ("Darnley").

BACKGROUND FACTS

The claimant, Michael Mark Junior Darnley ("Michael") was assaulted and struck on the back of his head by an unknown assailant before presenting himself at the A&E department of the defendant hospital ("Hospital") with a suspected head injury. Upon providing his personal details to the receptionist at the Hospital and informing her that he required urgent attention as he was feeling very unwell, the receptionist told Michael that he would have to wait for about four to five hours before a medical staff would see him.

The receptionist did not inform Michael that he would be seen by a triage nurse within 30 minutes.

After waiting for about 19 minutes, Michael returned home as he was feeling worse and unwilling to wait any longer. He did not inform the hospital staff that he was leaving but both the receptionists on duty noticed that he had left. Michael's condition deteriorated an hour later when he was at home and his family called an ambulance. He was taken back to the Hospital where a scan identified a large extradural haematoma (i.e. internal bleeding between the skull and the outer membrane of the brain).

Surgery was conducted to remove the haematoma but unfortunately Michael was left with permanent brain damage in the form of a severe and disabling left hemiplegia (i.e. paralysis on one side of the body). He sued the Hospital for negligence, claiming that the receptionist had been in breach of duty by failing to provide accurate information about waiting times.

FINDINGS OF THE HIGH COURT

The agreed expert evidence was that had Michael's deterioration occurred at the Hospital, he would have been treated promptly and made a near full recovery. Nonetheless, the High Court held in favour of the Hospital based on the following findings and conclusions:

(i) Michael did not fall into the category of patients who should have been fast tracked under the priority...