Are the members of hospital considered as staff servants of the hospital authorities?

Answer – In Santa Garg v. Director National Heart Institute, the Supreme Court quoted with approval the  proposition  from Denning L. J.’s judgment in Cassidy v. Ministry of Health: ‘ The hospital authority is liable for negligence of professional men employed by the authority under contract of service as well as under contract of service. The authority owes a duty to give proper treatment-medical, surgical, nursing and the like- and thought it may delegate the performance of that duty to those who are not its servants, it remains liable if the duty be improperly or inadequately performed by its delegates”. In Santa Garg’s case it was held that a petition for compensation against a hospital could not be dismissed by a consumer forum on this ground that the Doctors responsible for negligence were not joined.


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