Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

High Court (England and Wales) refuses withdrawal of pre-action admission in clinical negligence: defendant conduct and claimant prejudice outweigh realistic defence (Somoye v North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust)

Published on: 13 April 2023

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Legal News

Article summary

Somoye (on his own behalf and as administrator of the estate of Oluyinka O Somoye) v North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust [2023] EWHC 191 (KB)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This judgment distils the key considerations guiding the court’s discretion when asked to allow a defendant to retract a pre-action admission of liability. It sets out the matters the court will weigh, offering a structured reminder of how such applications are approached in practice.

The parties’ conduct, including any behaviour that prompted the admission in the first place
The prejudice that may arise for either side if the admission is withdrawn, or if permission to withdraw is refused
The likelihood of success (were the admission to be withdrawn) of the claim, or the relevant part of it to which the admission relates

The outcome illustrates that, even where the defendant later obtained expert evidence supporting a realistic defence, this was eclipsed by other elements—namely the defendant’s conduct and the prejudice that retracting the admission would cause the claimant.

The case further underscores the importance of obtaining expert evidence timeously and evaluating the strength...

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