Medical Negligence in Trinidad and Tobago: When Healthcare Goes Wrong
Medical negligence in Trinidad and Tobago occurs when a healthcare professional — a doctor, nurse, hospital, or health authority — fails to provide treatment that meets the accepted standard of care, and that failure causes avoidable harm to the patient. The State of Trinidad and Tobago paid over TT$16 million in 61 medical negligence settlements between 2015 and 2024, with the North Central Regional Health Authority accounting for the highest payout across 18 claims. T&T courts have awarded over TT$1.6 million in a single contested case. You have four years from the date the harm occurred — or the date you discovered it — to bring a claim, under Section 3 of the Limitation of Certain Actions Act, Chapter 7:09.
What Is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence is the improper or unskilled treatment of a patient by a healthcare professional resulting in harm, injury, or death. It is not simply a bad outcome — medicine involves uncertainty, and not every adverse result is the product of negligence. What the law requires is that the professional deviated from the standard of care that a reasonably competent practitioner in their field would have provided, and that deviation caused the patient's harm.
Three elements must be established:
| Element | What must be proved |
|---|---|
| Duty of care | A doctor-patient (or nurse-patient, hospital-patient) relationship existed |
| Breach of standard | The professional's conduct fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner |
| Causation and harm | The breach caused the patient's injury, illness, or death |
All three must be proved. A breach of standard that caused no harm is not actionable. An adverse outcome from an inherent risk — properly explained and managed — is not negligence.
What Is the "Standard of Care"?
The standard of care is not perfection. It is the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner exercising ordinary skill and care in the relevant field. A general practitioner is assessed against the standard of a reasonably competent GP — not against the standard of a specialist. A specialist is assessed against the standard of a competent specialist in that field.
The standard is established by expert evidence — from a medical professional in the same or a related field — who explains what a reasonably competent practitioner would have done in the same circumstances.
What Are Common Examples of Medical Negligence in T&T?
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis — failing to identify a condition that a competent practitioner would have detected, allowing it to progress and cause greater harm
- Incorrect medication — prescribing the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or failing to check for known contraindications
- Surgical errors — operating on the wrong site, leaving foreign objects in the body, or causing damage through improper technique
- Improper prenatal or obstetric care — failure to monitor high-risk pregnancies, or mismanagement of labour and delivery
- Failure to refer — a GP who fails to refer a patient to a specialist when the symptoms indicate the need
- Failure to obtain informed consent — carrying out a procedure without properly explaining the risks and obtaining the patient's agreement
Are Hospitals Liable for Their Staff?
Yes. Regional Health Authorities in Trinidad and Tobago are liable for the negligent acts of their employed medical staff through vicarious liability: the employer is held responsible for wrongs committed by employees acting in the course of their employment.
Claims against public hospitals in T&T are brought against the relevant Regional Health Authority:
- North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) — Port of Spain General, Caura, and others
- South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) — San Fernando General, Princes Town District Health Facility
- Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) — Eastern Regional Medical Centre
- Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) — Scarborough General
Suing a Private Hospital vs. a Regional Health Authority
The route to compensation differs depending on whether the negligence occurred at a public or private facility.
Regional Health Authorities (public facilities): Claims are brought against the relevant RHA as a statutory body. The RHA is fully liable for the negligent acts of its employed staff through vicarious liability. Because the State stands behind the RHA, judgment enforcement is generally not in question — but public facilities can be slower to respond to pre-action letters and more likely to defend than to settle early.
Private hospitals and clinics: Claims are brought against the clinic or hospital company and/or the individual practitioner. A private specialist who operates as an independent contractor at a private facility may bear personal liability separately from the facility. The private entity's insurance position matters — an uninsured private practitioner against whom judgment is obtained may have difficulty satisfying the award. Before committing to litigation against a private provider, establishing their liability insurance position through a lawyer is advisable.
The standard of care applied is identical in both settings. A public hospital does not receive a lower standard than a private one. The RHA context affects the procedural route, not the substantive test for negligence.
The Scale of Medical Negligence in Trinidad and Tobago
Data published by CNC3 in 2024 reveals the scope of medical negligence liability in the T&T public health system: the State paid over TT$16 million in 61 settlements between 2015 and 2024. The North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) recorded the highest payout — approximately TT$10 million across 18 claims.
In April 2024, seven families filed legal claims against the North West Regional Health Authority following the deaths of seven babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Port of Spain General Hospital. These cases remain ongoing.
These figures establish that medical negligence claims against RHAs are not hypothetical — they are actively pursued and actively settled.
Confirmed T&T Medical Negligence Awards and Settlements
| Case | Facility | Type of negligence | Award / Settlement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navin Singh v SWRHA | Princes Town District Health Facility | Misdiagnosis — necrotising fasciitis | TT$1.6 million+ |
| Samdaye Harrilal v SWRHA | San Fernando General Hospital | Absent obstetric care, high-risk patient | TT$120,000 (Court of Appeal) |
| NWRHA — 7 NICU deaths | Port of Spain General Hospital | Neonatal intensive care failures | Pending (2024–ongoing) |
| State settlements (aggregate) | Multiple RHAs | Various | TT$16M+ across 61 claims (2015–2024) |
| NCRHA (aggregate) | NCRHA facilities | Various | ~TT$10M across 18 claims |
No single published tariff governs medical negligence awards in T&T. Each case turns on its specific facts, the nature and permanence of the injury, the impact on earning capacity, and the quality of expert evidence. The figures above represent the confirmed floor of what T&T courts and RHAs have accepted as appropriate compensation.
What the Law Says in Trinidad and Tobago: The Standard and the Cases
Medical negligence claims in T&T are founded in the general law of negligence — the principles first articulated in Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 and developed through Caribbean and English case law. There is no dedicated medical negligence statute in T&T. The claim is a tort action brought in the High Court under ordinary negligence principles.
The standard of care for medical professionals is assessed according to the Bolam test (from Bolam v Friern Hospital Management Committee [1957] 1 WLR 583), which holds that a professional is not negligent if they acted in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of practitioners in the same field. T&T courts also follow the Privy Council's refinement in Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority [1997] 3 WLR 1151, which requires that the practice relied upon be capable of withstanding logical analysis.
Samdaye Harrilal v South West Regional Health Authority
The claimant was admitted to San Fernando General Hospital and gave birth to a stillborn child on April 23, 2002. No obstetrician was on duty — senior medical staff were engaged in industrial action. A high-risk patient with a congenital heart condition was never seen by a doctor during her admission. The Court of Appeal upheld liability and awarded TT$120,000, establishing that the absence of appropriate specialist cover — even during industrial action — does not excuse the hospital authority from its duty to patients.
Navin Singh v South West Regional Health Authority
A welder attended the Princes Town District Health Facility in 2014 complaining of symptoms that were misdiagnosed on two separate visits. He had necrotising fasciitis — "flesh-eating bacteria" — which could have been treated if identified promptly. The misdiagnosis delayed treatment until the condition was fatal. High Court Judge Avason Quinlan-Williams found the SWRHA and its staff negligent and ordered compensation exceeding TT$1.6 million to the welder's family.
Limitation period: Claims must be initiated within four years from the date the cause of action accrued — typically the date of the negligent act or the date the patient knew or reasonably ought to have known of the harm — under Section 3 of the Limitation of Certain Actions Act, Chapter 7:09. Failure to act within this period bars the claim entirely. If you are approaching or past this deadline, take legal advice immediately.
How to Obtain Your Medical Records from a Regional Health Authority
This is the first practical step in any medical negligence assessment — and the one most patients do not know how to take. Your medical records are essential for establishing what treatment was given, when, and by whom.
How to request your records:
- Submit a written request to the Medical Records Department of the relevant Regional Health Authority. Address the letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the RHA with a copy to the Medical Records Department.
- Identify yourself clearly — full name, date of birth, NIN, and the date(s) of treatment.
- Specify what records you need: consultation notes, investigation results, admission records, discharge summaries, operative notes, prescription records.
- Include a copy of a photo ID.
- The RHA has a duty to respond. The Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 22:02 provides a legal right to access records held by public authorities including health authorities.
If records are not provided: Follow up in writing with reference to your original request and the Freedom of Information Act. If you are denied access without adequate reason, an attorney can write formally on your behalf. Records withheld or delayed when litigation is anticipated may also be the subject of a court disclosure order.
Note the limitation period. While you gather records and seek advice, the four-year clock continues to run. Do not let the process of assembling information cause you to miss the deadline for filing.
Fatal Cases: When Medical Negligence Causes Death
Where medical negligence causes the death of the patient, the claim does not end with the patient. The estate of the deceased can bring a claim for the losses suffered before death — pain, suffering, and loss of amenity. Dependants of the deceased may also bring a separate claim under the Compensation for Injuries Act, Chapter 8:05 for the financial loss they suffer as a result of the death. Both claims can be brought together. Legal advice on the appropriate heads of claim is essential in fatal cases.
How to Build a Medical Negligence Claim: A Practical Sequence
Step 1 — Preserve all medical records. Request copies of all relevant records, test results, prescriptions, discharge summaries, operative notes, and referral letters as soon as possible. Use the FOI Act process described above. Records become harder to obtain as time passes and are sometimes altered or lost.
Step 2 — Note every relevant date. Write down when you or the patient first received the treatment in question, when you became aware that something had gone wrong, and when you connected the outcome to the healthcare received. The four-year limitation period under Section 3 of the Limitation of Certain Actions Act, Chapter 7:09 begins from the earlier of: the date the harm occurred, or the date you knew or reasonably ought to have known about it.
Step 3 — Instruct a lawyer experienced in medical negligence. Medical negligence is a specialist litigation area. A lawyer with experience in this field will know how to obtain medical records, how to instruct expert witnesses, and how to draft a Letter of Claim that puts the defendant on notice while preserving your legal position.
Step 4 — Obtain independent medical expert evidence. Every medical negligence claim requires an expert to assess the records and provide a written opinion on whether the standard of care was breached. The expert must be a practitioner in the same or a closely related field. Without a credible expert opinion supporting the claim, it cannot be advanced.
Step 5 — Send a Letter of Claim. Before filing court proceedings, your lawyer will send a formal Letter of Claim to the defendant (or the relevant RHA) setting out the factual basis of the negligence, the harm caused, and the quantum of loss claimed. Many medical negligence claims in T&T settle at this stage without the need for trial.
Step 6 — File High Court proceedings if not settled. If the defendant does not respond adequately or settlement cannot be reached, a claim is filed in the High Court. Medical negligence cases in T&T typically take several years from filing to trial — expert evidence, disclosure of records, and court scheduling all contribute to the timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is medical negligence in Trinidad and Tobago?
Medical negligence is the failure of a healthcare professional to provide treatment meeting the accepted standard of care, resulting in avoidable harm to the patient. Three things must be proved: a duty of care existed, the professional's conduct fell below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner, and that breach caused the patient's harm or death. A bad outcome alone — without a breach of the standard — does not constitute negligence.
Can I sue a public hospital in Trinidad and Tobago?
Yes. Regional Health Authorities — including the NWRHA, SWRHA, ERHA, and TRHA — are liable for the negligent acts of their employed staff. Claims against public hospitals are brought against the relevant Regional Health Authority. The same standard of care applies as to private facilities. The State paid over TT$16 million in 61 medical negligence settlements between 2015 and 2024, confirming that public hospital claims are actively pursued and settled.
How long do I have to make a medical negligence claim in Trinidad and Tobago?
Four years from the date the cause of action accrued — typically the date of the negligent act or the date you discovered the harm — under Section 3 of the Limitation of Certain Actions Act, Chapter 7:09. If you are approaching or past this deadline, take legal advice immediately. A claim filed after the limitation period will be barred.
How do I get my medical records from the hospital in Trinidad and Tobago?
Submit a written request to the Medical Records Department of the relevant Regional Health Authority, addressed to the CEO with a copy to the Medical Records Department. Identify yourself fully, specify the dates of treatment, and list the records you need. Include a copy of photo ID. The Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 22:02 provides a legal right to access records held by public health authorities. If records are withheld, an attorney can assist with formal demand or a court disclosure application.
How much compensation can I receive for medical negligence in T&T?
There is no fixed scale. The Navin Singh case against the SWRHA resulted in an award exceeding TT$1.6 million. The State has paid over TT$16 million in 61 settlements since 2015, with individual settlement values varying widely. Compensation depends on the nature and severity of the injury, the impact on life and earning capacity, the cost of future care, and other losses. Awards in fatal cases also include compensation for dependants under the Compensation for Injuries Act, Chapter 8:05.
Can a misdiagnosis be the basis of a medical negligence claim?
Yes. If a doctor failed to diagnose a condition that a reasonably competent practitioner would have identified, and the failure caused the patient's harm to worsen or become fatal, a misdiagnosis can found a medical negligence claim. The Navin Singh case — where a patient's flesh-eating bacteria was misdiagnosed on two visits to a public health facility — resulted in the family receiving over TT$1.6 million.
Written by Martin George, Attorney-at-Law. Martin George is the founder and principal attorney of Martin George & Company, with more than 35 years of active legal practice in the courts of Trinidad and Tobago. He is a former Commissioner on the Law Reform Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and a member of the Prime Minister's Constitutional Committee for Internal Self-Government for Tobago. This article is published for general information and public legal education. It does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact Martin George & Company.
Last reviewed: April 2026