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United Kingdom Leading Case professional negligencebreach standard of care

Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority

[1998] AC 232
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
CourtUK House of Lords
Year1998
StatusBinding authority

Summary

The Bolam test is qualified: a body of professional opinion will not satisfy the standard of care unless it is capable of withstanding logical analysis.

Key Principle

Bolam qualified; the responsible body of opinion must withstand logical analysis

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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