Birth trauma inquiry says legislation is needed to protect doctors from negligence claims
Doctors told the inquiry that fear of litigation in maternity care had created a 'risk-averse' system.
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Doctors who provide “responsive” maternity care outside of clinical guidelines and hospital protocols because of individual patients’ needs should have protection from future litigation, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded.
Clinical guidelines remained necessary to ensure safety, according to the NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma’s final report published last week.