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United Kingdom Leading Case professional negligencebreach standard of care

Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee

[1957] 1 WLR 582
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
CourtHigh Court (Queen's Bench Division)
Year1957
StatusBinding authority

Summary

A professional is not negligent if they act in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of professional opinion.

Key Principle

professional standard of care; not negligent if acting in accordance with a responsible body of opinion

Area of Law

Tort — Professional Negligence

Related Cases

Khan v Meadows [2021] UKSC 21

UKSC refined the SAAMCO scope-of-duty principle and established a six-stage framework for determining recoverable loss in professional negligence claims.

BPE Solicitors v Hughes-Holland [2017] UKSC 21

SAAMCO principle confirmed: a professional giving 'information' is only liable for losses attributable to that information being wrong, not all losses flowing from the transaction.

Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11

A doctor must disclose material risks that a reasonable patient in their position would consider significant, replacing the Bolam test for informed consent.

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