Chester v WA Country Health Service

[2022] WASCA 57

Western Australia Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Tort
2. › Negligence
3. › Medical negligence
4. › Hospital's failure to refer patient for specialist review
5. › Whether failure to refer caused residual injuries
6. › Causation
7. › Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA), s 5C
1. Appeal
2. › Adequacy of reasons
3. › Whether trial judge's reasons disclosed intellectual process leading to decision
4. › Whether failure to engage with central element of losing party's case
5. › Whether appellable error from inadequate reasons
1. Appeal
2. › Retrial
3. › Whether only conclusion open on evidence was conclusion reached by trial judge
4. › Whether appellate court can determine matter on the record alone

Quick Take

A trial judge in a medical negligence case must engage with the central elements of the plaintiff's case on causation, including resolving competing expert evidence as to the specific physiological cause of the plaintiff's residual condition, and must explain why the plaintiff's expert evidence is rejected if it is not accepted. Identifying possibilities and uncertainties without reaching ultimate findings is insufficient. The hypothetical question of what the plaintiff would have done requires a finding based on inference, not merely an observation that it 'cannot be assumed' the plaintiff would have acted in a particular way.