Medical practitioner

The claimant issued negligence proceedings against the defendant general medical practitioners after suffering a stroke, which had been caused by undiagnosed infective endocarditis. The Queen’s Bench Division held that the third defendant had breached her duty of care by failing to ask the claimant further questions and refer her to hospital immediately, which would have resulted in treatment preventing the stroke. However, no breach of duty had been established against the first and second defendants, as they had not been under a duty to ask further questions, given the claimant’s presentation to them.