Michael Stewart by his litigation guardian Carol Schwarzman v Metro North Hospital and Health Service (ABN 184 996 277 942) [2025] HCADisp 35 (Link to AUSTLII).
On 6 March 2025, special leave was granted limited to ground c of the application. The High Court hearing is expected in June 2025.
Ground c asserted that the Queensland Court of Appeal erred (in determining that the trial judge did not err) in failing to award to the applicant an amount of damages that permitted the applicant to live in his own home. This appellate consideration of damages for future care followed an admission of duty, breach and causation, arising from the applicant’s treatment as a patient at a hospital operated by the respondent. Metro admitted that as a consequence of his treatment at the hospital, Mr Stewart suffered brain damage; hemiparesis, confusion and dysphasia; right shoulder subluxation; right loss of visual field; the need for a colostomy bag; pain to the right side of his body; no active movement in the right upper limbs; right lower limb contractures; and speech and motor difficulties.
The applicant’s argument appears to be that it was reasonable for the respondent to pay the additional costs of therapy in the applicant’s own residence as opposed to the provision of additional therapy and care in the nursing home in which the applicant resided, the Court should have taken into account that the applicant had lived in the community prior to sustaining his injuries, his express wish to live in the community, his unhappiness living in Ozanam (an aged care facility), the enhancements to his life of sharing his residence with his son and a dog and that the living, care and therapy arrangements sought by the applicant were of a kind commonly undertaken in the community.
Link to Court of Appeal decision: AUSTLII
Link to Supreme Court decision: AUSTLII.
With thanks to Kirsten Van Der Wal.
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