Hospitals provide valuable services to communities here in Ontario, and public health depends on these institutions. However, this does not make hospitals immune to legal action, and medical teams and facilities can be held accountable for mistakes.
There are instances in which a medical malpractice lawsuit can be brought against hospital staff or an institution as a whole. Understanding when and how you can sue a hospital in Ontario is crucial here. With this guide, we want to help you gain this understanding so you know which steps to take in your specific case.
When Can You Sue a Hospital for Medical Malpractice?
In most cases involving hospitals, a medical malpractice claim will fall into one of two categories.
Hospital Negligence
A hospital has a duty of care over patients, and these patients expect to receive a high level of care and attention. If this care and attention is not provided, this may be evidence of medical negligence. Negligence can involve:
• Hospital policies that prevent patients from receiving the care and treatment they need
• Procedures that are not properly managed and overseen, or are not fit for purpose — particularly if this results in patient suffering
• Failing to maintain safety standards in and around the hospital facility, and during care and treatment itself
Employee Actions
While hospital employees are individuals, they are still employed by the institution itself. With this in mind, the hospital does assume some responsibility for the actions of these medical staff. Suing a hospital may be possible if pain and suffering is caused by any of the following employee actions:
• Medical care professionals botch a procedure or make surgical errors that harm the patient.
• Nurses or technicians deliver the wrong medication or make a similar error that results in suffering.
• Administration staff make an error that leads to patients being refused care or receiving the wrong type of care.
Proving Malpractice in a Hospital
Whether suing a hospital for negligence or for an individual employee action, you will need to take the right steps to give your case the best chance of success. To begin with, you will need to prove that malpractice has taken place.
This can be difficult, and the legal landscape is sometimes a little confusing. Hospitals are not ordinary environments. They are places in which pain and suffering occur each and every day, so they are held to a particular set of standards. Despite this, there are frameworks and processes in place for proving malpractice.
Demonstrating the Duty of Care
In order to prove medical malpractice, you’ll first need to establish and demonstrate a duty of care. In other words, proving that the institution, medical team, or individual in question is responsible for your well-being.
This is why malpractice litigation is often (although not always) concerned with the “patient-medical professional” relationship. For example, the relationship between the patient and a doctor, or the patient and a surgeon. The duty of care is easier to prove and demonstrate in this instance.
There may be other instances in which there is a duty of care. A hospital has a duty of care over all visitors to the facility, and the institution’s management team must provide a reasonably safe environment for everyone on-site. If a visitor suffers a personal injury due to an unsafe environment in the hospital, this may be grounds for a legal case, although it will not usually be considered an instance of medical malpractice.
Proving a Breach of Duty
Once the duty of care has been identified, it’s necessary to prove that this duty has been breached. This does not necessarily mean a treatment was ineffective. Unfortunately, treatments are not always successful, and pain and suffering can continue even after care has been administered. Instead, duty of care is breached when a medical practitioner does not meet the standard expected.
For instance, if a practitioner makes medication errors — i.e. if they provided the wrong medication or made a dosage error — this may be considered a breach of duty. If other medical practitioners would have done things differently, and can reach a consensus that the practitioner in question has made an error, there may be a case to answer.
It’s important to note here that hospitals and medical teams are not expected to be perfect. Making a human error is not considered a breach of duty in and of itself. Instead, the instance of negligence, malpractice, or error must be evidence of a substandard level of care.
Connecting the Breach of Duty to Direct Harm
A medical malpractice claim must relate to specific and demonstrable harm. In other words, the patient must be able to show that they experienced pain, suffering, or other damages as a direct result of negligence or malpractice.
This may involve physical discomfort. The patient may be able to prove that they experienced an increase in pain, or a continuation of pain over a long period of time, as a result of the actions of the hospital and medical team. It may also relate to other forms of damages — like loss of earnings due to an inability to work or the financial cost of paying to rectify a medical mistake.
To prove this, many patients seek expert testimony from other medical professionals. These medical experts can give their own view, explaining why they believe the medical practitioner’s actions directly caused harm to the patient.
Considering the Statute of Limitations on Suing a Hospital for Malpractice
There is a statute of limitations applied to medical malpractice claims in Ontario. In many cases, this will be two years — either from the date at which the harm or damages were identified, or from the date at which they should have been identified.
There are exceptions to this. For malpractice cases involving minors, the two-year period begins when the minor reaches the age of 18.
Examples of Malpractice Claims Brought Against Hospitals
What form does a malpractice claim brought against a hospital usually take? There are many different types of medical malpractice lawsuits, and each case is different. However, there are some common categories for such cases:
Medical Errors by Staff
Patients place their trust in medical staff when they visit a hospital. They expect these medical staff members to provide the right treatments and to deliver these treatments in an effective way. Surgical errors, medication errors, or other mistakes by medical professionals could constitute malpractice.
Inadequate Patient Care
Malpractice doesn’t always involve a single obvious error. Instead, it could relate to negligence or a substandard level of care. If patients are left without supervision for extended periods of time, or if they don’t receive the proper attention from staff, this can lead to real pain and suffering. Instances of professionals refusing to treat patients, or failing to take urgent action, may also be covered by inadequate patient care.
Unsafe or Unsanitary Conditions
If facilities are not kept clean and tidy, or if they are generally hazardous to health, this may be considered negligence or malpractice. The condition of the hospital is part of the duty of care — teams are responsible for maintaining a healthy environment for everyone at the site.
Can You Sue a Hospital for Malpractice Following Treatment by Independent Doctors?
Not all medical staff are direct employees of the hospital itself. Some doctors may in fact be independent contractors, and may not be part of the hospital’s full-time team.
This can lead to complications in malpractice claims. A mistake made by an independent contractor may not be covered by the hospital’s liability, which is why these contractors are required to have their own medical liability insurance.
However, the hospital does have a responsibility to hire and work with reliable professionals — this is part of their duty of care for patients. So the hospital may assume some partial liability, even if they do not employ the medical professional themselves. Your medical malpractice lawyer can help you understand where the liability lies in your specific case.
Need to Sue a Hospital in Ontario? Get the Legal Assistance You Need
Allan Rouben is an experienced medical malpractice lawyer operating in Ontario. With his knowledge and expertise, he can help you understand the specifics of your own case, and give you the guidance you need as you move towards the right outcome.
Reach out to Allan Rouben today to learn more or to book your consultation.