Locations
The Court of Appeal in the UK has recently held that a judge was entitled to find contemporaneous medical records unreliable, in circumstances where they were contrary to witness evidence heard(Robert Synclair v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 128).At first instance, in the plaintiff’s claim for medical negligence, a doctor was found to have breached his duty by discharging the plaintiff prematurely. The plaintiff’s recollection of his pain and conditio...
The Court of Appeal in the UK has recently held that a judge was entitled to find contemporaneous medical records unreliable, in circumstances where they were contrary to witness evidence heard (Robert Synclair v East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 128).
At first instance, in the plaintiff’s claim for medical negligence, a doctor was found to have breached his duty by discharging the plaintiff prematurely. The plaintiff’s recollection of his pain and condition was contrary to the clinical records prior to discharge. The doctor who made the relevant notes was not called to give evidence. On appeal, the NHS Trust argued that the trial judge should not have found that the contemporaneous clinical records were to be rejected in favour of testimony from the plaintiff and his wife.
The judge had assessed the evidence and the records, which was noted to be difficult as there was no evidence of the circumstances in which the record had been made. Even though the records were contemporaneous, the court still had to decide whether they were reliable on the basis of the evidence presented. On appeal, this was held to be the correct approach.
While UK case law is not binding on Irish Courts, it is persuasive in this jurisdiction.
The full judgement is available here.
Author: Deirdre Duffy