When a Doctor Cannot Go Back to Work: Examination of the Loss of Earnings Award - Gordon Exall, Zenith Chambers & Hardwicke
03/05/16. There are some important matters considered in the decision of Mr Justice Picken in Dr Sido John -v- Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2016] EWHC 407 (QB).
THE CASE
The claimant was a doctor who was injured in a fall. He was successful in establishing clinical negligence on the part of the treating hospital. The court had to consider the claim for loss of earnings.
KEY POINTS
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The court rejected an argument in relation to failure to mitigate loss. The claimant had not gone back to work. However it was appropriate for him to have waited to see whether he could have returned to work as a GP.
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The claimant would never have returned work as a GP after the accident even without the medical negligence. His residual earning capacity was £5,000 a year his “but for” earnings were found to be £20,000 a year.
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There was a dispute over the appropriate multiplier. The judge adopted a...
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