Kent v Griffiths
An ambulance service that accepted an emergency call owed a duty of care to the patient to arrive within a reasonable time.
Facts
Mrs Kent, who had asthma, suffered a severe attack at home. Her doctor called for an ambulance, which was accepted, but the ambulance took about 40 minutes to arrive, although it was only a few miles away, and there was no good reason for the delay. Mrs Kent suffered a respiratory arrest on the way to hospital, causing brain damage. She sued the London Ambulance Service.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal held that the ambulance service owed a duty of care and was liable. Lord Woolf MR said that the ambulance service was part of the health service, providing services equivalent to those of hospitals, rather than a service like the police or fire service whose duty was to protect the public generally. Once the call was accepted, the service owed a duty to the named individual, and there was no conflict with its duty to the public, so it was fair, just and reasonable to impose a duty. The failure to arrive in a reasonable time without any justification was a breach of that duty.
Related cases on duty of care
- Anns v Merton London Borough Council [1978] AC 728
- Caparo Industries plc v Dickman [1990] 2 AC 605
- Capital & Counties plc v Hampshire County Council [1997] QB 1004
- Darnley v Croydon Health Services NHS Trust [2018] UKSC 50, [2019] AC 831
- Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562
- Gorringe v Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council [2004] UKHL 15, [2004] 1 WLR 1057
- Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire [1989] AC 53
- Home Office v Dorset Yacht Co Ltd [1970] AC 1004
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