Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority [1998] AC 232, [1997] 4 All ER

A two-year-old boy was re-admitted to hospital under the care of Dr H and Dr R. The boy suffered two incidents of respiratory difficulties, Dr H did not attend the first incident and delegated to Dr R to attend the second but neither attended to the boy and he subsequently died.

The issue was whether the boy would have died regardless of whether Dr H had attended. There were conflicting medical opinions supporting both viewpoints. Held a doctor could be liable for negligence even if a body of professional opinion sanctioned his conduct, where the judge was not satisfied that the opinion relied upon was reasonable.

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