Abstract
The Williams Review has emphasised the need for a clear and consistent understanding of what constitutes GNM. What does this look like in practice, and what impact will it have?
Highlights
The case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a paediatric trainee, who was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter (GNM) following the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock, has alarmed clinicians across the world and left them wondering whether such a fate could befall them.[1]
The leading authority remains that of R v Adomako, where Lord Mackay explained that gross negligence ‘will depend on the seriousness of the breach of duty committed by the defendant in all the circumstances in which the defendant was placed ... [and] the extent to which the defendant’s conduct departed from the proper standard of care incumbent upon him, involving as it must have done a risk of death to the patient, was such that it should be judged criminal.’[8]. This formulation has been criticised for its circularity and lack of certainty and has undoubtedly been challenging to interpret and apply.[9,10]
Judges have long used a variety of terms to capture the grossness of the negligence, even referring to the higher form of criminal fault known as recklessness.[5,9]
Summary
The case of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba, a paediatric trainee, who was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter (GNM) following the death of six-year-old Jack Adcock, has alarmed clinicians across the world and left them wondering whether such a fate could befall them.[1]. [and] the extent to which the defendant’s conduct departed from the proper standard of care incumbent upon him, involving as it must have done a risk of death to the patient, was such that it should be judged criminal.’[8] This formulation has been criticised for its circularity and lack of certainty and has undoubtedly been challenging to interpret and apply.[9,10] Four Appeal Court decisions in five years is testament to this.11–14
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