Updates from the courts in relation to medical manslaughter and gross negligence

The circumstances surrounding medical manslaughter

After being found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter while treating six-year-old Jack Adcock, the English High Court deregistered junior medical practitioner, Dr Bawa-Garba, in General Medical Council v Bawa-Garba [2018] EWHC 76, in a situation involving human error, IT system failure and a lack of resources.

The case has brought nervous concern from medical practitioners in England and Australia that medical standards will be set, and how breaches of standards will be determined.

Australia has largely followed the English legal position in adopting the test for gross negligence manslaughter. Will Australian courts follow the decision in Bawa-Garba?