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

This annotated bibliography provides insights into the legal considerations for clinicians and patients in context of recording healthcare consultations, the impact of current negligence laws in circumstances where technology is applied, the usage of clinical guidelines in medical negligence litigation, and the role of clinical guidelines in establishing competent professional practice. The sources are analyzed and critiqued to provide a better understanding of negligence, duty of care, and standard of care in healthcare.

Annotated
Bibliography
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
McDougall & et. al., (2021). Balancing health worker well-being and duty to care: an ethical
approach to staff safety in COVID-19 and beyond. Journal of medical ethics, 47(5), 318-323.....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....................................................................................................................................................4
Shahbaz, R., & Salducci, M. (2021). Law and order of modern ophthalmology:
Teleophthalmology, smartphones legal and ethics. European Journal of Ophthalmology, 31(1),
13-21................................................................................................................................................5
Platt, H. (2021). The Role of Medical Evidence in Determining the Outcome of Medical
Negligence Cases When Peer Professional Opinion Is Used. Journal of law and Medicine, 28(3),
798-812............................................................................................................................................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
tables 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: The usage of digital technology is rising in various medical treatments (Kyaw & et.
al., 2019). 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 treatment of augment analgesia 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 is effectively
discussed in this report. The area of liability of healthcare professionals when it comes to harm
caused by advanced technology used in medical treatment is also discussed in the research paper.
The current liability of healthcare professionals in case of harm caused by digital technology is
stated in this paper along with the ways in which new laws need to be improved in order to
address the issue of liability more effectively.
Critique: The article is from the year 2020 and looks at recent case of virtual reality being used
for augment analgesia. 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 medical negligence. The
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research findings state that lack flexible nature of negligence principles in adapting to harm
arises from new risks such as simulation sickness. Specific warnings and standards of best
practice will need to be developed if VR becomes a feature of general practice. These findings
are clear as it is based on the review of real medical case. Tis 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). A global perspective of the use of clinical
guidelines in medical negligence litigation. In Clinical Guidelines and the Law
of Medical Negligence. 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 a global perspective by considering contentious areas such as CGs being regarded as
"quasi law" and whether guidelines should be allowed to codify the norm. Clinical guidelines or
CG are recommendations on how to diagnose or treat a medical condition (Sisó-Almirall & et.
al., 2021). 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.
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This showcases their knowledge, capability and experience to write accurate research papers and
articles in the field of medical law. The paper states the development of acceptance of clinical
guidelines through the Guidelines International Network and various guideline appraisal tools. It
is assumed in the paper that this will carry on to increase, mostly with better mainframes, and
progressing machinery that incorporates artificial intelligence. It is concluded that this inclination
for accepting guidelines on a worldwide measure is commendable. 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 international. Knowledge about international
medical negligence law will increase which can be used to improve professional practice to
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.
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. This displays the credibility of
the paper to discuss the issue of medical negligence. The two real life cases included 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.
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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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