Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Foreseeability definition

What does Foreseeability mean? Foreseeability describes whether, at the time of the act or breach, a reasonable person could anticipate the kind of harm that occurred. It is a case law concept used across negligence (Scotland: delict) and contract to define the scope of duty and to limit recoverable damages by remoteness. To recover damages, the claimant (Scotland: pursuer) must show that injury or loss was reasonably foreseeable; if not, the damage is too remote and the defendant will not be held liable. In negligence/delict, foreseeability helps establish a duty of care and the remoteness rule: only damage of a foreseeable type...

Causation, remoteness and foreseeability in clinical negligence: loss of chance, failure to warn, omissions, subsequent negligence, contributory negligence and the egg-shell skull rule

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes

Remoteness and Foreseeability

An injury arising out of clinical Negligence does not, by itself, ensure a claimant will be granted Damages by the court. A tort gives rise to damages only where each constituent is established:

duty of care
breach of that duty
causation, i.e. the breach caused loss
injury

Remoteness of loss and foreseeability are elusive notions that pervade every stage identified above. They are the judicial instruments through which common sense and policy are applied.

Failure to treat/loss of chance

Where, but for the clinical negligence, the claimant had a prospect of recovering from illness or injury without adverse consequences, or held a strong chance of a cure, how do the courts handle causation and what damages are awarded? These issues concern causation intertwined with remoteness. In Hotson v East Berkshire Area Health Authority, a 13-year-old fell from a tree, fracturing his left femoral epiphysis. At hospital his condition was not diagnosed for five days and he developed avascular necrosis, leading to disability in his hip...

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Sarah Fraser Butlin

Cloisters

Sarah is an experienced Clinical Negligence barrister dealing with the full range of matters, including acting as a junior in several birth accident claims. Sarah has a particular interest in the intersection between clinical negligence and human rights claims and has been involved in several successful claims involving Article 2 and 8 rights. She has written extensively and is currently a sub-editor of Kemp and Kemp. In addition to her clinical negligence practice, Sarah is an employment and discrimination practitioner and is recommended in Chambers and Partners 2014. She is an Affiliated Lecturer in Labour Law at the University of Cambridge....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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