Where a health professional is employed or appointed by a hospital and is negligent, the hospital itself is responsible to the patient as the employer or hirer of the health professional.

Where a hospital treats a patient in a casualty section, or admits a patient, it may be regarded as making an undertaking to the patient that it will take reasonable care to provide for all the patient's medical needs. The hospital will not be able to avoid liability by saying it delegated the care of the patient to an apparently competent doctor.