The clinical scope of duty and the boundaries of negligence in child abuse cases (Conway v Yeovil District Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust)
PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: This tragic clinical negligence case related to the care provided by the defendants to Sidney Conway, a baby admitted to hospital with unexplained symptoms which were in fact a result of abusive head trauma inflicted by his mother. The claimant argued that the failure to fully diagnose and investigate Sidney’s symptoms at hospital created the opportunity for his mother to abuse him again, as she did the day after he was discharged, causing him catastrophic brain injuries. This case had been fought on conventional tortious principles of breach of duty and causation. In the view of the trial judge, however, the facts invited an alternative analysis under the ‘scope of duty’ principle as clarified by the Supreme Court in Meadows v Khan. He held that injuries inflicted on Sidney by his mother did not fall within the scope of the duty owed to him by the defendants, who in any event had not breached their duty towards him. Accordingly, the claim failed. Written by Daniel Hallström, barrister at Old Square Chambers.