Health practitioners are legally bound to provide a reasonable standard of care to their patients. However, determining what is reasonable can be more challenging. For example, how many times must a practitioner follow up with a non-compliant patient? How many tests are required to adequately investigate a particular set of presenting symptoms? Answers to these questions can vary depending on the specific circumstances of the clinical situation at hand. Complexity can arise because no two patients are the same and can range in the degree to which they follow their doctor’s recommendations and advice. Reasonable practice is never measured in real time, but by courts in hindsight. Therefore, it can be difficult for a doctor to know how much to investigate or follow up symptoms tests, results, referrals, or failures to attend.
In this webinar, our expert panel of clinical and legal experts will delve into the scope of the duty of care of health practitioners and provide an update based on recent Australian court decisions, including those lead by MIPS.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this webinar, attendees will be able to:
- Discuss recent Australian judgements which have impacted the interpretation of health practitioners’ duty of care expectations and responsibilities.
- Identify the medico-legal frameworks that impact the extent or scope of the duty of care owed by healthcare professionals to their patients.
- Articulate effective strategies to bring back to their clinical practice to minimise medico-legal risk.
MIPS resources
