NOTES OF CASES
| Published date | 01 October 1947 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1947.tb00064.x |
| Date | 01 October 1947 |
NO'I'ES
OF
CASES
VICARIOUS
LIABILITY
OF
HOSPITAL
AUTHORITIES
IN
Collins
v.
Herts C.C.,
[1947]
1
All
E.R.
633,
the plaintiff's
husband had died in a county council hospital as
a
result of a
lethal dose of cocaine injected by an operating surgeon, Mr.
H.,
in the belief that it was a proper anesthetic dose of procaine.
The mixture was ordered by Mr.
H.
in
a
telephone conversation
with a resident house surgeon, Miss
K.,
who misheard the
instructions and told the pharmacist to dispense the lethal
dose. The pharmacist did
so
without further inquiry or
authority, and Mr.
H.
administered the injection without
checking the mixture.
The plaintiff claimed damages against the county council,
alleging negligence in the conduct of their hospital, and the
statement of claim also alleged that the county council was
vicariously responsible for negligence on the part
of
Mr.
H.
and Miss
K.
The plaintiff further claimed damages against
Mr.
H.
on the ground
of
his failure to exercise reasonable care.
At the trial the plaintiff sought to amend her statement
of
claim by alleging that the county council was also responsible
for the negligence of the pharmacist, although the period of
one year applicable to actions against public authorities, under
section
21
of
the Limitation Act,
1939,
had expired.
Hilbery,
J.,
found that the county council had permitted a
dangerous and negligent system to be in operation and that
Mr.
H.,
Miss
K.
and the pharmacist were all guilty of
negligence. On these findings at least three interesting
questions of law fell to be decided.
1.
In
Gold
v.
Essex
C.C.,
[1942] 2
K.B.
293,
the Court
of
Appeal held that a hospital authority was liable for the negli-
gence
of
a competent radiographer who was
a
whole-time
employee, and,
obiter,
that it was not liable for the negligence
of
a
visiting surgeon. In the present case the position of
Mr.
H.
and Miss
K.
was such that they fell rather nearer the
borderline than the visiting surgeon and the radiographer in
Gold's Case.
Mr.
H.
had signed a form showing that he was
a
temporary
Vicarious Liability
for
Vuiious
Classes
of
Oficers.
425
VOL.
10
28
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