Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Duty of care definition

What does Duty of care mean? In practice, a duty of care is the legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing foreseeable harm to another person in the circumstances of the case. It is principally a case law concept in negligence (tort) and delict, though specific statutes (for example, occupiers’ liability and health and safety legislation) impose particular duties in defined settings. In England & Wales and Northern Ireland, courts typically consider whether harm was reasonably foreseeable, the parties were in a relationship of proximity, and whether it is fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty (Caparo). Limits frequently arise for omissions, public authorities...

Clinical negligence: duties owed by clinicians and others, scope of duty, and breach—Bolam/Bolitho, Montgomery, Khan v Meadows; non-delegable duties, non-patients and secondary victims

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes

The duty of care

Healthcare practitioners owe their patients a duty of care. That obligation, arising in the course of their care, requires the exercise of reasonable care to:

obtain a full and adequate medical history
thoroughly explore the patient’s symptoms and concerns
formulate appropriate and reasonable differential diagnoses
arrange referrals to relevant specialists where required
take action to pursue all reasonable measures to safeguard the patient’s health
deliver a reasonable and proportionate course of treatment
follow up with the patient afterwards where that is reasonably necessary

For guidance on identifying the proper defendant in a clinical negligence claim, see Practice Note: Identifying the correct defendant in clinical negligence claims. The duty is not confined to medical practitioners alone; it may extend further.

Non-clinical staff

Employees within a healthcare organisation or facility may owe a direct duty to patients. In Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, the claimant attended A&E with a head injury and was told by the receptionist that the wait would be four to five hours; he should instead have been informed that he would be seen by a triage nurse within 30 minutes...

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Andrew Ritchie , KC

9 Gough Chambers

Described as approachable, dependable, a classy team player, hard on the issues and hard working, Andrew has enormous experience in fatal accident claims, occupational health litigation, especially mesothelioma claims, employers liability litigation generally (for example Corr v IBC, the suicide case, HL) and road traffic and insurance law (for instance Rafiq v MIB, CA).Andrew writes 9 chapters of the leading Personal Injury text Kemp & Kemp on Quantum including the fatal accidents chapter.Many of Andrew's reported cases concern catastrophic injury claims involving brain damage, spinal injury and PTSD (he represented many victims of the Paddington rail disaster). Andrew's Clinical Negligence practice covers in particular Hypoxia at birth, Urology, Cardiology and neurosurgery.Andrew also represents medical professionals before regulatory and disciplinary tribunals and also has considerable experience in professional negligence work arising from personal injury litigation....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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