Covid

[ohfourfoxache]

I’m so sorry to ask but if someone could answer I’d be hugely grateful

I know that the pandemic has, for now, put the whole NHS negligence thing into question

But given the govt’s action (or lack thereof) has this opened them up to potential negligence claims in the future?

So for example, kids in schools where there has essentially been no protection against the pandemic - if these kids get really sick in the future, do you think there will be any legal recourse? E.g. severe long covid

Asking as an NHS employee who last did healthcare law 20+ years ago and so this has been playing on my mind!

Thanks

Who would be the negligent party? Far too difficult to pin down and also where did the covid originate? In the school, in the home, in a bus, in a restaurant? Just too difficult to prove who is at fault. If we ever went down this route there wouldn’t be much money for services. If would be spent in court defending claims. Hopefully not what we ever do.

I’m thinking it potentially has shades of the hepatitis blood scandal

They knew it existed, they didn’t know where it originated from but there was/has been a failure to mitigate

Blood products were a product. Covid is an illness. Blood products had a producer. Covid doesn’t. Unless you blame China. I don’t think it’s the same. And the blood products were used deliberately. Who has done anything deliberately in the pandemic? Not quite the same.

The hepatitis blood scandal resulted in negligence claims against the NHS, not the government. I'm not an expert in this area so I'm not sure if it is even possible to bring a negligence claim against the government or if that is barred by Crown immunity. However, even if it is, I think it would be very difficult to prove that the government acted so recklessly that it should be classed as negligent.

True. It was against the NHS. However it was still a product. Not an illness. Every negligence claim costs a fortune. Either to defend and/or pay out. Money deserved in some instances but for covid? Far too difficult to prove surely?

Thanks for responses, you’ve satisfied my curiosity!

That doesn’t mean to say that individuals might bring a negligence case!

For a negligence claim to succeed, the person bringing the claim would have to show that the government's actions had directly disadvantaged them. To take the OP's example of children in schools, for a child that became seriously ill to sue the government they would have to show that the government's actions (or lack thereof) caused them to get ill. In a pandemic, it would be impossible for them to prove that they wouldn't have got ill even if the government had behaved differently.

The other issue anyone attempting to bring a case would encounter is that the courts are wary about interfering with political decisions unless the government oversteps its powers. Throughout the pandemic, the government has had to balance the three L's - lives, livelihoods and liberty. Saying, for example, that schools should have stayed shut is prioritising lives over livelihoods (in this case, our children's future livelihoods) and liberty. I very much doubt the courts would want to venture into this territory.

Sorry - there is a surplus "even" in my first paragraph. That should say, "it would be impossible for them to prove that they wouldn't have got ill if the government had behaved differently".