This means that the claimant must prove that his or her injury resulted from the negligence of the defendant and was not attributable to some other cause. Moreover the injury must be of a kind recognized by law.

The law recognizes psychiatric illness or injury resulting from negligence as well as physical injury. The injury suffered must also be a reasonably foreseeable kind. A whole vista of dire consequences would be reasonably foreseeable in the case of a frail elderly lady allowed to leave a hospital late on a freezing cold night.

The claimant must show that the defendant broke the duty of care that the defendant owed the claimant. The defendants’ conduct fell short of the standard of care to be expected of a reasonable person or a member of the same profession, if the defendant is a professional.

A professional person is under a duty to exercise reasonable care and skill. The required standard of care and skill is that of the ordinary skilled person of the same discipline. A professional will not be negligent if his or her conduct is supported by a reasonable body of professional opinion.

A person owes a duty of care to everyone they should reasonably foresee as likely to be injured as a result of their acts or failure to act.