Guide
We must not let this tragedy stop at "failing to fulfill the obligation to ensure safety".
Source: Yimaitong Author: Rushing Emergency Lao Liu This article is authorized by the author to be published by Yimaitong, please do not reprint without authorization.
Is it necessary for the hospital to compensate for an accidental injury in the hospital?
I don't know if you have such doubts?
As a special public place, the hospital involves many types of personnel such as medical staff, patients, family members, visitors, cleaners, nurses, and security guards, and it is inevitable that bumps and bumps will occur. Recently, the people's court of a county in Guangxi concluded a dispute case that attracted widespread attention.
Event recap
In June 2023, in the corridor of the obstetrics and gynecology department of a hospital in Guangxi, a family member of a patient, He, carried a bucket of boiling hot water from the boiling water room, put it on the side of the corridor and entered the ward.
Meanwhile, a couple was visiting a patient in a nearby ward with their 4-year-old daughter, during which the girl came out of the ward alone and frolicked in the hallway.
Seeing this, Song, a family member of another patient who was talking to someone outside the ward, gently touched the girl's forehead with his hand in order to stop her playful behavior, and the tragedy happened - the girl unfortunately fell into the hot water bucket placed by He in advance during the retreat.
Subsequently, the girl was taken to another hospital for treatment, where she was diagnosed with "extremely severe burns".
In the follow-up negotiation of compensation matters, the girl's parents believed that the defendants He and Song and the hospital were all at fault and should bear tort liability, but because they could not reach a consensus, they sued the court on March 4, 2024.
After trial, the court held that:
1. As a person with full capacity for civil conduct, He X placed a bucket filled with boiling water in a crowded passage, which led to the occurrence of this case, and there was a major fault and should bear primary responsibility.
2. Song, as a person with full capacity for civil conduct, failed to pay attention to the surrounding environment and pushed the girl's forehead, causing her to sit in a bucket placed next to her in the process of retreating, and he was also at fault and should bear corresponding responsibility.
3. The legal guardian of the girl who takes the minor to a medical institution with a complex environment fails to fulfill the duty of safe guardianship, and has corresponding faults, shall bear corresponding responsibility in accordance with law.
4. Although the hospital is not the party responsible for the accident, it should bear the corresponding responsibility for failing to fulfill the safety reminder obligation and daily management obligation in the process of providing boiling water, and causing damage to others.
In the end, the court calculated the girl's various economic losses and mental damage solatium totaling more than 320,000 yuan, and ordered He, Song, the girl's legal guardian, and the hospital to bear 50%, 20%, 20%, and 10% of the compensation liability respectively according to the degree of fault and the degree of relevance to the consequences of the damage.
What is the basis for the court's decision? Why is the liability of each party so divided? The court's verdict sparked heated discussions among netizens. As a doctor, the author is most concerned about the expert's interpretation of the hospital's decision.
Experts pointed out that hospitals, as public places, should fulfill their duties and obligations to ensure the safety of personnel. In this case, the hospital was negligent in the management of boiling water and the management of the corridor, and failed to fulfill the corresponding safety and security obligations, so it was required to bear certain supplementary responsibilities.
Do you think this judgment is reasonable?
As long as someone is injured in the hospital, the hospital has to accompany them?
After reading this case, many people inevitably began to worry: is it that as long as someone has an accident in the hospital, the hospital has not fulfilled its obligations? Is it that as long as someone is injured in the hospital, the hospital has to pay for it?
The answer is not yes! It still needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and then we will make a detailed comparison through two situations that are more common in hospitals, the scenarios are similar, but the final results are diametrically opposed.
The first case comes from the China Court Network:
The 68-year-old man accompanied his daughter to a hospital to see an outpatient clinic, and accidentally fell and injured himself, and the surveillance video showed that at 7:39:50, a man about 60 years old fell out of his trouser leg when he passed by the corridor outside the expert consultation area; At 7:48:10, the nurse found a "stool-like object" and called the cleaning staff while walking forward; At 7:48:18, the elderly man stepped on the "stool-like object" while passing through the corridor, causing him to fall and hit the waiting chair. After the old man was injured, he was diagnosed with a rib fracture and identified as a grade 10 disability.
After the trial, the court held that the hospital was a public place, and the hospital, as the manager of the public place, failed to clean up the "stool-like objects" in a timely manner when there appeared in the corridor, especially when the medical guide and nurse found the "stool-like objects", did not stop the personnel from approaching in time, had certain defects in management and services, failed to fulfill the obligation of adequate safety guarantees, and should bear certain civil liability for the plaintiff's damages. However, the elderly, as an adult with full capacity for civil conduct, has the necessary duty of care when entering a public place to ensure his own safety, and he is himself advanced and has a relatively weak ability to react and act, but still goes out to accompany his daughter to seek medical treatment regardless of the risk, so that he accidentally falls and is injured, and he should be found to be at greater fault himself. In the end, it was decided that the hospital should bear 40% of the compensation liability and compensate 22,306.8 yuan for various losses.
The second case comes from the official website of the Nanjing Jianye District People's Court:
Xiao Liu went to a hospital for treatment due to illness, during the treatment, Xiao Liu wore slippers into the boiling water room to drink water, and then returned the same way, fell and injured himself when he went out of the boiling water room, the hospital staff sent Xiao Liu to the hospital, and the hospital diagnosed Xiao Liu as a coronoid fracture of the ulna. Later, Xiao Liu filed a lawsuit, claiming that the water stains on the floor of the hospital caused him to slip and fall, and that the hospital, as the manager of a medical public place open to the public, failed to fulfill its safety and security obligations, and should bear tort liability.
The court held that the case was a dispute over liability for breach of security obligations. According to the surveillance video, during his visit to the hospital, Xiao Liu wore slippers into the boiling water room to drink water, and then returned the same way, and fell and injured himself when he left the door of the boiling water room. A warning sign "Slide with Caution" has been set up on the side of the entrance outside the boiling water room, and non-slip mats have been laid from the water dispenser inside the boiling water room to the entrance outside the boiling water room. There were no water stains or foreign objects on the ground where Xiao Liu fell, and there was no abnormality when others passed by. Xiao Liu asserted that the hospital had failed to fulfill its safety and security obligations, but the evidence submitted was insufficient to prove it. As an adult with full capacity for civil conduct, Xiao Liu should be aware that wearing slippers will increase the risk of slipping. Therefore, the court did not support Xiao Liu's lawsuit for compensation for various losses, and ruled to dismiss Xiao Liu's claim.
Through the details of the two cases, it can be seen that the key to whether the hospital will be awarded compensation in the end lies in whether it has fully fulfilled its safety and security obligations.
How can security obligations be fully fulfilled?
If we want to fully fulfill our safety and security obligations, in fact, I believe that it is usually impossible to fully do so in front of the already complicated work of hospital staff.
For example, if a patient spills water in a hospital corridor and does not inform the hospital staff in a timely manner, and is not discovered by the cleaning staff in a short period of time, causing others to slip and fall, it is a bit demanding to determine that the hospital has failed to fully fulfill its safety and security obligations.
However, this situation often arises in medical disputes, and in the end, the hospital is usually liable for compensation. So, how should hospitals strengthen management to avoid accidents? And what should you do as a healthcare worker?
1. Upgrade the hardware conditions of the hospital, install safety and security facilities, and post warning signs.
Accidents in hospitals often occur in elevators, stairwells, ramps, boiling water rooms, toilets and other places, and safety facilities can be installed and warning signs can be posted to reduce the occurrence of accidents. For example, in the previous example, it was mentioned that non-slip mats should be installed in areas where water may be sprinkled, and there is a warning sign saying "slip carefully". There are even hospitals that have handrails installed in the bathrooms to reduce the probability of falls in the bathrooms, and some hospitals do not provide 100°C boiling water to avoid serious burns.
2. Increase hospital staff to deal with emergencies in a timely manner.
If there can be more cleaning and maintenance, security patrols, medical guidance and nurse assistance, the probability of accidents in the hospital will be significantly reduced.
3. Do a good job in ward management and pay attention to patient admission education.
Many patients will have falls, burns, falls and other accidents during hospitalization, so generally when admitted, the nurse will assess their risks, educate patients and accompanying family members about admission, and remind each other to improve safety awareness, especially for high-risk patients who are older, younger and have poor mental state, it is necessary to emphasize the precautions, and if necessary, accompany them.
4. Conduct systematic inspections of hospital facilities on a regular basis to eliminate potential safety hazards.
Regular inspections can find potential safety hazards and reduce the risk of accidents, especially after each accident, it is necessary to carefully analyze the causes of accidents and make response plans to avoid similar incidents from happening again.
Going back to the original case, the accident of a 4-year-old girl is something that none of us want to see. But when the case was announced, most people questioned why the girl's parents were held liable for compensation, but few thought about why the hospital should pay compensation.
For a medical staff, the case still serves as a wake-up call for everyone, what are the management problems in the hospital? What issues haven't been paid attention to? We still need to continue to reflect and improve.
We must not let this tragedy stop at "failing to fulfill the obligation to ensure safety".
Column Counsel Lawyer:
Liang Yu, a lawyer at Beijing Mili Law Firm, focuses on civil and commercial legal litigation, corporate legal counsel and medical litigation, and has long been engaged in medical law research and practice, and has rich experience in medical law.
References: CCTV News, China Court Network, Nanjing Jianye District People's Court official website
Editor-in-charge|Yongo Yiyi
Cover image source: Visual China
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