title: Medical teams and the standard of care in negligence.
abstract: Medical teams are essential to the delivery of modern, patient-centred health care in hospitals. A collective model of responsibility envisaged by team care is inconsistent with common law tort liability which focuses on the individual rather than the team. There is no basis upon which a team can be liable as a collective at common law. Nor does the common law'countenance liability for the conduct of other team members absent some form of agency, vicarious liability or non-delegable duty. Despite the barriers to the adoption of a team standard of care in negligence, there is scope for team factors to have a role in determining the standard of care so that being a team player is part and parcel of what it is to be a competent professional. If this is the case, the skill set, and the standard of care expected of the individual professional, includes skills based on team models of communication, cross-monitoring and trust.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sappideen
mesh_terms: D000067498:Crew Resource Management, Healthcare; D006801:Humans; D008318:Malpractice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D061214:Patient Safety; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D059039:Standard of Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*