HL Deb 02 August 1982 vol 434 c671WA
Baroness Hornsby-Smith

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether a non-qualified member of NHS staff would be liable in a claim for damages at the suit of a patient diagnosed by a consultant as requiring surgery which was frustrated by the intervention of such a non-qualified person resulting in the deterioration of the patient's health.

Lord Trefgarne

This is a matter for the courts to decide in the light of the circumstances of the individual case, but they would no doubt wish to consider whether there was a duty of care owed to the patient by the prospective defendant, and whether the prospective defendant could reasonably have foreseen that a deterioration in the patient's condition could result from his actions.