Annotated Bibliography on Negligence, Duty of Care and Standard of Care in Healthcare

This annotated bibliography includes research papers related to negligence, duty of care and standard of care in healthcare. The papers cover legal considerations for clinicians and patients in context of recording healthcare consultations, medical negligence laws and virtual reality in healthcare, global perspective of the use of clinical guidelines in medical negligence litigation, and the role of clinical guidelines in establishing competent professional practice. Each paper is summarized, critiqued and reflected upon.

Annotated
Bibliography
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Prictor, M., Johnston, C., & Hyatt, A. (2021). Overt and covert recordings of health care
consultations in Australia: some legal considerations. Medical Journal of Australia, 214(3), 119-
123. < https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.50838 >..................................................................................3
Lim & et. al., (2020). Medical negligence laws and virtual reality in healthcare. Australian
journal of general practice, 49(8), 525-529. <https://doi.org/10.31128/ajgp-08-19-5036>...........4
Samanta, J., & Samanta, A. (2021). A global perspective of the use of clinical guidelines in
medical negligence litigation. In Clinical Guidelines and the Law of Medical Negligence, 281-
321. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789908893.00018.............................5
Pakchung, D., Smith, M., & Hughes, C. (2019). The role of clinical guidelines in establishing
competent professional practice. Australian Journal of General Practice, 48(1/2), 22-24. <
https://doi.org/10.31128/ajgp-09-18-4714 >....................................................................................6
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Standard and duty of care looks at the concept of negligence as a breach of duties by a
practitioner and harming the patients and care users who are consumers. Any case of negligence
in care services involves the care professional deviating from the standards of care resulting in
harm of the patient. Such cases are taken to court of law and the practitioner is liable to any harm
caused due to negligence. This report includes annotation of several sources related to the topic
of negligence, duty of care and standard of care. This includes a summary, critical analysis and
reflection on the selected sources.
Prictor, M., Johnston, C., & Hyatt, A. (2021). Overt and covert recordings of
health care consultations in Australia: some legal considerations. Medical
Journal of Australia, 214(3), 119-123. < https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.50838 >
Summary: This research paper looks at the legal considerations for clinicians and patients in
context of recording healthcare consultations. Recording healthcare consultations is associated
with various legal considerations such as consent of the patients while recording the
consultations and supervising covert readings of the consultation. This research outlines various
legislations associated with recording healthcare consultations in Australia. The concept of
negligence in recording consultations is stated in this paper. It is important that various
legislations to recording consultations are followed while dealing with patients in order to avoid
negligence such as recording without proper consent. The findings of this paper provide an
overview of Australian legislature related to recording consultations and its effectiveness in
supporting lawful recording of negligence.
Critique: This is an easy to read research because it divides data into textual form as well as
tables so that the reader is able to easily understand the content of the paper. Dividing data into
table supports increasing accessibility of the paper as tables makes it easier to interpret main
points (Gilbert, 2022). The headings and subheadings are clearly included in the paper with
specifically highlighted points such as example cases. This increases the accessibility of the
research paper to a larger number of audiences because it can be easily understood by healthcare
professionals from different backgrounds and educational capabilities. Finally the interpretations
and findings of the investigation highlight the legal policies in Australia related to consultation
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recording. The Australian legislation regarding recording of consultation prevents negligence by
healthcare practitioners in context of recording consultation.
Reflection: This is relevant research paper to healthcare profession because it highlights the
healthcare consultation recording legislation in Australia. This knowledge can be used to avoid
negligence while recording healthcare consultation information. This research paper can be used
to understand different laws applicable to healthcare consultation recording so that negligence
can be avoided.
Lim & et. al., (2020). Medical negligence laws and virtual reality in
healthcare. Australian journal of general practice, 49(8), 525-529.
<https://doi.org/10.31128/ajgp-08-19-5036>
Summary: This introduces the question of medical negligence in case where treatment is
completed by the support of digital technology. This research looks at the case of virtual reality
being used for treatments as an augmented pain reliever in order to evaluate the application of
medical negligence laws in medical treatments which utilize digital technology. This is an
important research paper because it looks at impact of current negligence laws in circumstances
where technology is applied. The negative aspects and positive aspects of current medical
negligence laws, when it comes to usage of advanced technology such as Virtual reality are
discussed in this report. The area of liability of healthcare professionals in case of harm caused
by advanced technology used in medical treatment is also discussed in the research paper. The
current liability of healthcare professionals while using VR technology is stated in this paper
along with the ways in which new laws need to be improved in order to address the issues related
with medical technology.
Critique: The article is from the year 2020 and looks at recent case of virtual reality being used
as an augmented pain reliever. The points are clearly laid out in the article with easy to
understand headings and coherent flow of information. One of the authors of the research works
at the position of professor of biomedical sciences in University of Sydney while other is
professor at West mead clinical school in Sydney. In addition to this the research paper is also
completed by senior lecturer at University of Sydney law school. These credentials from
University of Sydney showcase the capability of the authors to effectively review the topic of
medical negligence. The research findings state that lack of flexibility in negligence principles in
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adapting to harm caused by digital technology is linked with risks such as simulation sickness. It
is recommended in the paper specific warnings and standards of best practice will need to be
developed in the negligence principles if VR becomes a feature of general practice in medicine.
These findings are interpreted clearly as it is based on the review of real medical case. This study
is beneficial for individuals looking to understand the intersection of medical technology and
medical negligence in order to work in the best interest of patients.
Reflection: This paper is relevant to own practice because it provides information about relation
between digital medical technology and application of medical negligence law. This will
improve effective usage of digital technology in healthcare treatments because individuals will
consider the legal implications of digital technology in treatments. In addition to this it is also
helpful in improving professional medical practice as it increases awareness about the liability of
healthcare professionals in case of harm caused by usage of digital technology in medical
treatment.
Samanta, J., & Samanta, A. (2021). In Clinical Guidelines and the Law of
Medical Negligence 1(1), 281-321. Edward Elgar Publishing.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789908893.00018
Summary: The usage of clinical guidelines in medical negligence litigation is discussed in the
paper from global perspectives. The association of clinical guidelines as quasi law in healthcare
is considered in this paper to completely understand global perspectives on clinical guidelines
and their role in formulation of medical negligence law. Insights about clinical guidelines
covering medical negligence are provided in the paper and their role in developing suitable legal
standards for medical negligence is examined in this paper from different international
perspectives.
Critique: This is clear research paper with suitable headings and sub heading for each topic.
Data gained from different countries about the clinical guidelines followed in context of medical
negligence is highlighted so that the discussion can be easily understood by the reader. Both of
the authors have previously published many articles and research papers on medical law. In
addition to this one of the authors is a Professor of Medical Law at Leicester De Montfort Law
School. In addition to this second author are Emeritus Consultant Physician and Rheumatologist.
This showcases their knowledge, capability and experience to write accurate research papers and
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articles in the field of medical law. The paper states the rising acceptance of clinical guidelines
through the Guidelines International Network and various guideline appraisal tools. Clinical
guidelines or CG are recommendations on how to diagnose or treat a medical condition (Sisó-
Almirall & et. al., 2021) It is assumed in the paper that acceptance of clinical guidelines will
carry on increasing, mostly due to better computers, and technology that incorporates artificial
intelligence. It is concluded that this inclination for accepting clinical guidelines on a global
scale is beneficial for the healthcare sector. However, there is risk of inflexible compliance with
guidelines which can lead to ineffective healthcare practices. These research findings are
interpreted effectively by using data from various countries.
Reflection: This is useful research article as it can be used for understanding the ways in which
clinical giddiness affect medical negligence laws internationally. Knowledge about international
medical negligence law will be improved through this paper which can be used to improve
professional practice. This paper will develop my understanding of clinical guidelines and their
relation to medical negligence so that I am able to follow the given clinical guidelines and avoid
medical negligence.
Pakchung, D., Smith, M., & Hughes, C. (2019). The role of clinical guidelines
in establishing competent professional practice. Australian Journal of General
Practice, 48(1/2), 22-24. < https://doi.org/10.31128/ajgp-09-18-4714 >
Summary: The primary focus of this paper is provide guidance to professionals in medical care
on how their practice in agreement with college, hospital or other accepted professional
guidelines is expected to be noticed by a court in the incident of a medical negligence due. Two
different cases of medical negligence are discussed in this paper in order to understand the
importance of clinical guidelines in medical negligence trial. The two cases used in this paper are
from the state New south Wales and Western Australia. This paper reviews the cases to
determine the role of clinical guidelines in supporting competent medical practice.
Critique: The article is clearly divided into headings and sub-headings and is easy to understand.
In addition to this the authors of the paper, hold several degrees in medical professionals
including MBBS, FRACMA, Dip RACOG, MHA, GCAppLaw.. The information about
educational backgrounds of the authors is essential because it helps give credibility to the
research. This displays the credibility of the paper to discuss the issue of medical negligence.
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The two real life cases discussed and compared in the paper are Gould v South Western Sydney
Local Health District and Ellis v East Metropolitan Health Service. This further improves the
argument of the paper as it is based on real court trials. The conclusion of the paper is that
appropriate adherence to college, hospital or other accepted professional guidelines can act as
persuasive evidence that the doctors were practicing in accordance with widely held peer
professional opinion in defense of a medical negligence claim. This is interpreted correctly on
the basis of the examples of two real life cases and reviewing the state law covering medical
negligence in ach of the cases. It is interpreted that a health professional would not have
breached their duty of care if they acted in a manner that, at the time the service was provided,
was widely accepted by peer professional opinion as competent professional practice. This
showcases the ways in which professional practice is reviewed in court in different Australian
states.
Reflection: It is reflected that the study is essential for understanding how real life court trials
are completed in case of medical negligence and how professional practice is examined in court
trials. The examples can be used to enhance professional practice and ensure that medical
negligence is avoided by adhering to adhering to college, hospital or other accepted professional
guidelines.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Gilbert, N. (2022). Analyzing tabular data: Loglinear and logistic models for social researchers.
< https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003259701-13>
Kyaw & et. al., (2019). Virtual reality for health professions education: systematic review and
meta-analysis by the digital health education collaboration. Journal of medical Internet
research, 21(1), e12959. < https://doi.org/10.2196/12959 >
Sisó-Almirall & et. al., (2021). Long Covid-19: proposed primary care clinical guidelines for
diagnosis and disease management. International journal of environmental research and public
health, 18(8), 4350. < https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084350 >
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