Duty of Care
A legal obligation to take reasonable care to avoid causing harm to others. Central to the tort of negligence (established in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932]).
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
Government guidance on clinical negligence cover puts the underlying principle plainly in a professional context: every healthcare professional, whether they work in the NHS or the private sector, owes a duty of care to act in the best interest of their patients.
The duty is tied to an assumption of responsibility and a standard: where a professional has assumed some sort of responsibility for a patient's care, the law imposes a duty on the professional to act in accordance with the relevant standard of care, generally assessed as the standard expected of an 'ordinarily competent practitioner' performing that task or role.
Related terms
Official sources
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