Reception staff and duty of care
THE Supreme Court recently judged that non-medical staff members also have a duty of care to patients. Whilst the case in question took place in the A&E department of a hospital, MDDUS is flagging to its members working in general practice that there are important points that need to be borne in mind.
When GP partners delegate to non-medically qualified staff (including receptionists) the role of first point of contact for persons seeking
medical assistance, they must remember that they are also delegating the responsibility for providing accurate information as to its availability and that the information provided to patients must be complete and not misleading. The case involved a 34-year-old man with a head injury presenting at A&E. He requested
urgent attention but was informed by a receptionist that he would have to wait up to four to five hours to be seen by a clinician. The patient replied that he could not wait that long as he felt near to collapse. The receptionist was then reported to have said that if he did collapse then he would be treated as an emergency. Neither of the two A&E receptionists on duty at the time recalled the conversation though each described their usual practice when a person with a head injury asked about waiting times. One said that they could expect to be seen by a triage nurse within 30 minutes of arrival and the other said that the triage nurse would be informed and that they would be seen as soon as possible. The patient decided to go home but was later returned to hospital by ambulance and a CT scan identified a large extradural haematoma. Emergency surgery was undertaken but he unfortunately suffered permanent brain damage. Proceedings were brought against the NHS trust alleging a breach of duty by the reception staff concerning the information given about waiting times and a failure to assess for urgent triage. The case was dismissed in the High Court and in the Court of Appeal on the grounds that neither the receptionist nor the trust owed any duty to advise about waiting times and also that there was no causal link between any breach of duty and the injury. The patient successfully appealed to the Supreme Court which ruled that the case fell squarely within an established category of duty of care in any casualty department – to take reasonable care not to provide misleading information which may foreseeably cause physical injury. The Court also found that this duty of care was owed to the patient by both medical and non-medical staff. Source: PRESS SUMMARY/ Darnley (Appellant) v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
(Respondent) [2018] UKSC 50/ On appeal from [2017] EWCA Civ 151 Dr John Holden is joint head of medical division at MDDUS
MDDUS joint head of medical division Dr John Holden said: “We particularly welcome the document highlighting the importance of learning outcomes as the key aspect of reflective practice. Being able to learn through reflection is crucial to assisting doctors with education, training and development. We are reassured that the GMC will not use these reflective notes in order to investigate a fitness to practise concern. “We would also like to remind members that they should contact MDDUS at the earliest opportunity if they are faced with any incident, claim or complaint. Reflection is not a substitute for reporting significant events or serious incidents. Doctors should also contact their medical defence organisation when a request for disclosure of confidential patient information is received.” Access The reflective practitioner at tinyurl.
com/y76q4g2e
Tell us what you
want...really
OUR MDDUS Training and CPD team are busy planning a packed programme of upcoming events, including our 2019 Practice Managers’ Conference (date soon to be confirmed). Now is your chance to let us know what you would find useful in the way of conference sessions, stand-alone courses or webinars. Just contact
risk@mddus.com with your topic ideas. Members can also request a speaker or
training event in their local area. Select a topic of your choice – from confidentiality and complaints handling to risks in general medical/dental practice. Local training courses can be delivered for a daily fee or for a per-delegate rate based on your preferences and available local arrangements.
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WINTER INDEMNITY SCHEME NHS England is again running an indemnity scheme to support GPs doing extra out-of-hours/ unscheduled care work and extended hours this winter. The scheme will run until 31 March 2019 and does not apply to pre-existing indemnity arrangements. Click the link on
themddus.com homepage for more details and to apply. Additional information on the scheme including FAQs can found on the NHS England website.
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GDC RENEWAL REMINDER The deadline for dentists to renew their GDC registration is 31 December and those failing to do so will be removed from the register and not allowed to practise. The GDC is urging dentists to renew now to avoid the busy holiday period. The quickest and most efficient way of doing this is via eGDC (access at
www.egdc-uk.org). Contact the GDC with any questions by phoning 020 7167 6000 or by email at
renewal@gdc-uk.org.
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BLEAK PRACTICE IS BACK The eagerly-anticipated sixth episode of our flagship drama is now online at
mddus.com. Join us for another eventful day in the Wellnot Surgery as staff wrestle with a variety of challenges and risks around consent, referral systems, delegation, working collaboratively with colleagues and breaches of confidentiality. Members can login to access the resource in Team Training in the Training & CPD section of
mddus.com
MDDUS INSIGHT / 5
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