Williams v The Bermuda Hospitals Board (Bermuda)

Hilary Term

[2016] UKPC 4

Privy Council Appeal No 0110 of 2014

LORD TOULSON:

1.                   On 30 May 2011 the respondent, Kamal Williams, went to the emergency department of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda, complaining of abdominal pain. He was suffering from acute appendicitis. Later that day he had an appendectomy, but there were complications. He was seriously unwell for a period of weeks, but he finally made a full recovery. He sued the appellant hospital board, which is responsible for the management of the hospital, for damages for his pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of earnings. He alleged that the complications were the result of negligent delay in his treatment.

2.                   The trial judge, Hellman J, found that there had been negligence but that Mr Williams had not proved that the culpable delay caused the complications. He awarded Mr Williams $2,000 in damages for his extra suffering during the period of culpable delay prior to the operation. The Court of Appeal (Evans and Ward JJA and Bell AJA) reversed the judge’s decision on causation and remitted the case to the trial judge for a fresh assessment of damages. Hellman J increased the award to $60,000 excluding interest.

3.                   The hospital board asks that the original judgment be restored. It submits that the trial judge decided the case on orthodox legal principles and that the Court of Appeal was wrong to interfere with his judgment. It has paid the amount of the increased award to Mr Williams (who has donated it to charity), and has stated through counsel that it will not seek repayment if it succeeds in the present appeal, but it is pursuing the appeal because of its concern about the effect of the Court of Appeal’s judgment as a precedent.

Facts

4.                   At the trial, the evidence of all but one of the factual witnesses was contained in statements and exhibits which were admitted without cross-examination. The exception was Dr Christine Di Lullo (one of the doctors involved in Mr Williams’ treatment), who was called at the suggestion of the judge to give oral evidence to clarify a point in her witness statement.

5.                   The judge heard oral expert evidence from Dr Michael Leitman and Dr Alasdair Conn. Dr Leitman was head of the general surgery division at a New York hospital, and was called on behalf of Mr Williams. Dr Conn was head of emergency services at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and was called on behalf of the hospital board.…