Stewart v Metro North Hospital and Health Service (No 2)

In the case of Stewart v Metro North Hospital and Health Service (No 2), the plaintiff, Stewart, pursued damages against the defendant, Metro North Hospital and Health Service, for medical treatment received that resulted in significant damages. The trial court awarded Stewart damages of $2,190,505.48, acknowledging the defendant's breach of duty of care. The defendant made an offer to settle the claim under rule 361 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) (UCPR). The central legal issue was whether this offer constituted a valid compromise offer under rule 353 of the UCPR, specifically whether it settled the whole of Stewart's claim. Additionally, the court had to determine the appropriate allocation of costs given Stewart's partial success at trial and his refusal of the defendant's offer.

The court found that the defendant's offer did not comply with rule 353 because it did not settle the entire claim. The court also examined the allocation of costs, noting that while Stewart had greater success on the issue of life expectancy, the defendant's success on the issue of home care significantly impacted the overall damages. The trial issues were not equally weighted; the question of home care accounted for approximately 50% of the trial's costs, while the other issues made up the remaining 50%. Given this, the court ruled that Stewart was entitled to 50% of his costs from the date of the offer, and the defendant to 50% of its costs from the same date. The court opted to net off these entitlements, leading to no order for costs from the date of the offer.

In conclusion, the court ordered that the defendant pay Stewart's costs up to 17 July 2023, to be assessed on the standard basis if not agreed. There would be no order for costs from 17 July 2023, effectively concluding the matter of costs between the parties.