LAWS6054 - Health Care & Professional Liability
Objectives
- Explore the role of law as a means to regulate/set limits on the conduct of health professionals and examine debates about the proper role of law in regulating the provision of health care.
- Provide a foundation for further study in health law by examining laws that govern the liability of health professionals across a range of fields (criminal law, torts, contract, discrimination law) and mechanisms for the oversight and disciplining of health professionals.
- Examine the adaptation of longstanding legal principles and the enactment of specific legislation to meet the challenges of modern health care.
- Critically evaluate law reform initiatives (where relevant) with respect to legal liability, complaints mechanisms and disciplinary action against health professionals.
Content
Legal and non-legal methods of regulating the practice of health professionals by the criminal law; the principles of negligence and their application to the liability of health professionals; liability of hospitals; discrimination in health care; procedures for complaints against health professionals; disciplinary proceedings; the statutory reporting obligations of health professionals.
Session
Semester 2 Intensive
10-11 & 24-25 September 2010
Please note: This unit is compulsory for Graduate Diploma in Public Health Law (GradDipPubHL) candidates. Master of Health Law (MHL ) candidates may select this unit as one of the three compulsory units required in addition to LAWS 6252 - Legal Reasoning & the Common Law System or LAWS 6881 - Introduction to Law for Health Professionals.
The timetable is subject to frequent changes. Please refer to the latest version of the Postgraduate Timetable.
Assessment
- 1 x Class Presentation (10%)
- 1 x 2,000 word Class Paper (30%)
- 1 x 5,000 word Take-Home Exam (60%)
Courses this unit is available in
Master of Laws | Graduate Diploma in Law | Master of Global Law |Master of Health Law | Graduate Diploma in Health Law