During the typical personal injury case, the plaintiff claims that the defendant did not do what an ordinary, reasonable, prudent and cautious person would have done in the same situation. Yet not every defendant can be described as an ordinary man or woman. When that is the case, there is a different definition for Ontario’s standard of care.
What standard of care means when the defendant is a professional?
In that instance, the judge and jury must decide whether or not the professional/defendant exercised the level of care, diligence and skill expected of someone with a professional’s level of education or training.
How does Ontario judge whether or not a professional has exhibited a reasonable amount of care?
Ontario has created between 5 and 15 measurable functions. The court analyzes the level at which a given defendant can carry out the measurable functions. If that performance level drops too low, the facility that has hired that one particular professional gets identified as one with a sub-par quality level.
How can a health facility in Ontario respond to notice that it appears to have a sub-par quality level?
Government provides same facility with a way to assess its level of care. Once that assessment has been completed, the health facility must work towards improving its status. Members of that particular facility can access the government guide. That guide offers information on the tools and resources that are made available to those facilities that want to improve the quality of their care.
What could happen if a facility chose to ignore the fact that it offered a sub-par level of care?
In that case, the facility that had ignored the measurements on its care-directed functions might get charged with commission of medical malpractice. It might cause harm to some client/patient. If the harmed client/patient could prove a link between a given injury and some action performed by that facility, or a service denied to certain people using that facility, the claimant would have a strong case with the help of personal injury lawyer in Cambridge.
That suggested scenario underscores the significance of the standard of care in Ontario. It sets forth the guidelines by which a health facility’s operation can be judged. Ontario does not fine a facility in which the quality of care falls below the established standard. Still, that Province does expect such a hospital, doctor’s office or clinic to display a readiness to strive towards improving its reputation.
Patients must realize that delivery of quality and caring services includes attention to the patient’s readiness to leave a given facility. That can lengthen the time that it takes for obtaining permission to have a given patient released. The government’s concerns can slow the process used for sending a patient home.
