| 释义 |
Bolam test
In cases of alleged clinical negligence, a test sometimes used to determine the standard of care owed to a patient by medical professionals. The case Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee (1957) 1 WLR 583 established that there will be no breach in their duty of care so long as the doctor acted in accordance with practices accepted as proper by a responsible body of other medical professionals with expertise in that particular area. However, subsequent cases have challenged this test, requiring the doctor to behave “reasonably” or “logically” regardless of the body of medical opinion (Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority [1998] AC 232 (HL)). The Bolam test applies only to cases of medical treatment and not to information given at consent. In Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] 1 AC 1430 the Supreme Court accepted that if the claimant had been told about the risk of a difficult birth, she would have chosen to have a caesarean, and that the question of whether consent was adequate in a clinical negligence claim would not be assessed by the Bolam test. Instead, doctors must provide information about all material risks. They must disclose any risk to which a reasonable person in the patient’s position would attach significance. |