Walsh v South Cork Board of Public Assistance

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1949
• Date: 01 January 1949
• Docket Number: (1945. No. 119 P.)
• Court: Supreme Court

(S.C.),

Walsh

and

South Cork Board of Public Assistance

Board of Public Assistance - Management of public hospital - Non-paying patient - Claim for damages for personal injuries alleged to arise through negligence of member of staff of hospital - Board of Public Assistance not liable - Public Assistance Act, 1939 (No. 27 of 1939), ss. 18, 19, 20 and 28.

A non-paying patient in a hospital under the control of a board of public assistance claimed damages against the board for injuries which he alleged were caused by the negligence of a member of the hospital staff in the carrying out of the board's duty to provide poor persons with medical assistance. At the close of the evidence Haugh J. withdrew the case from the jury on two grounds, viz., that the board was not liable for the negligence of its servants and that there was no evidence of negligence to go to the jury. The plaintiffs...