ABSTRACT
The Bolam case has established that in English and Welsh law at the present time, the plaintiff must be able to show that no responsible body of clinicians would have treated them in this manner [1]. A doctor “is not guilty of negligence if he has acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper”. Similarly it has been said that “the true test for establishing liability in diagnosis or treatm ent on the part of a Doctor is whether or not he has been proved to be guilty of such failure as no Doctor of ordinary skill and care would be guilty of’ [2], The standard expected is that adopted at the time of the injury and not in present-day practice. The expected skills in that particular hospital and by that grade of doctor are also relevant. The burden of proof is not on the defendant but on the plaintiff to show that they believe there has been negligence. The facts are medical and not legal, and hence the plaintiff relies heavily on the opinion of the medical expert.
