Court of Appeal dismisses patient’s appeal in informed consent case (Diamond v Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of the decision?
• What was the background?
• What did the Court of Appeal decide?
• Findings of fact
• Forseeability
• Causation

Article summary

Personal Injury analysis: Laura Johnson, barrister at 1 Chancery Lane, examines the Court of Appeal’s decision in Diamond v Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust to uphold a High Court judge’s finding. Although a surgeon who had repaired the appellant’s hernia using an abdominal mesh had breached his duty to obtain her informed consent to that procedure, the breach had not caused her injury or damage because she would have opted for the same procedure had the surgeon provided her with all the relevant information.