Читать книгу Occupational Health Law - Diana Kloss - Страница 53

The health professional does not have a legal duty to provide medical care for those whom he has not accepted as patients. There is no duty in English law to act as a Good Samaritan and go to the aid of someone lying seriously injured in the street, though there may be an ethical duty, but if you do assist, you will have an obligation to take reasonable care. What if an employee of a subcontractor, or a visiting member of the public, is taken ill or has an accident on the premises where the OH doctor or nurse is at work? The BMA in The Occupational Physician advises that the OH doctor takes full medical responsibility only for those working on site, including contractors, but to the extent that he is concerned with the effect of work on health, he is advised that included therein is the health of the public at large, either in general or as individuals.

It is unlikely that a health professional would be held to owe a legal duty to the general public. His obligation to the wider community is a moral and ethical duty. In an extreme case, it might oblige him, against the wishes of his employer, to reveal dangers to the public of which they are in ignorance (Chapter 3). Mostly, of course, the OH professional is unable to do more than advise and warn, but should do whatever is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case.