Knowledge and Awareness of Vicarious Liability: Views of Healthcare Workers in Ghana

Abstract

This study explored the knowledge and awareness of Ghanaian health workers on vicarious liability. It also explored the perceptions and experiences of Ghanaian healthcare workers on the incidence, scope, rationale and implications of vicarious liability in healthcare facilities in Ghana. Towards this end, structured questionnaires were administered to four hundred (400) respondents randomly sampled from one private and one public health facility in Ghana. Their responses were analyzed and qualitatively discussed within the context of relevant literature. Study results show that healthcare workers in Ghana had limited knowledge on vicarious liability. Further, vicarious liability of healthcare facilities in Ghana were the result of treatment without consent, breach of patient’s confidentiality, negligence, assault, battery, nuisance, patient abandonment, and wrongful diagnosis or treatment procedure by healthcare personnel.