Barnett v Chelsea Hospital [1969] 1 All ER 428

Court: Queen’s Bench Division

Basic Facts:

• X went to a hospital complaining of vomiting after drinking tea. The nurse called the on-duty doctor, who advised X to go to bed and see their own doctor in the morning. X later died from arsenic poisoning.

• X’s estate sued the hospital, claiming that timely treatment might have saved X, though evidence suggested X might have died even with prompt treatment.

Issue for the Court:

• When can a defendant be said to have caused the claimant’s harm, even if a duty of care was breached?

Held: The hospital was not liable due to lack of causation

Nield J (finding against the Claimant)

• The hospital breached its duty of care by not examining X and sending them home.

• A duty of care exists when authorities voluntarily assume responsibility for a task, creating a proximity between the parties and a foreseeable risk of harm if the duty is breached.

• However, even if the hospital had admitted X, the evidence suggested X had already reached the "point of no return," and timely treatment might not have prevented death.

Thus, the claimant did not establish on the balance of probabilities that the breach caused X’s death.