Medical doctors in Zimbabwe face negligence claims when they perform below what their peers would do. Courts judge them by comparing their actions to other skilled doctors in the same type of medicine facing similar situations. Any doctor who treats patients must show the same care and skills that other doctors in their field normally use when handling similar cases.
The law lets only health professionals diagnose sickness, provide treatment, and give medical advice to sick people. Even giving shots remains mostly a medical task for health professionals, though certain other people can legally give injections under specific rules. Making a wrong diagnosis doesn't automatically mean a doctor messed up. It becomes negligence only when the doctor's work falls short of normal professional standards.
Zimbabwe law requires two key factors for a doctor to pay damages. First, the harm must happen because the doctor acted wrongfully. Second, the doctor must have caused harm either through carelessness or on purpose. The legal system applies a specific test to decide if medical negligence happened in any case. This test checks what a reasonable doctor would have done.
A doctor acts negligently when another reasonable doctor would have seen that harm might happen in general. Such a doctor would also understand how this harm could occur through a chain of events. Any reasonable doctor would then take action to stop this harm from happening. Negligence exists when your doctor fails to take these protective steps that other doctors would have taken.
The law lets only health professionals diagnose sickness, provide treatment, and give medical advice to sick people. Even giving shots remains mostly a medical task for health professionals, though certain other people can legally give injections under specific rules. Making a wrong diagnosis doesn't automatically mean a doctor messed up. It becomes negligence only when the doctor's work falls short of normal professional standards.
Zimbabwe law requires two key factors for a doctor to pay damages. First, the harm must happen because the doctor acted wrongfully. Second, the doctor must have caused harm either through carelessness or on purpose. The legal system applies a specific test to decide if medical negligence happened in any case. This test checks what a reasonable doctor would have done.
A doctor acts negligently when another reasonable doctor would have seen that harm might happen in general. Such a doctor would also understand how this harm could occur through a chain of events. Any reasonable doctor would then take action to stop this harm from happening. Negligence exists when your doctor fails to take these protective steps that other doctors would have taken.
