'No-one fully responsible': a 'collusion of anonymity' protecting health-care bodies from manslaughter charges?

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 establishes the statutory offence of corporate manslaughter, replacing the previous common law corporate liability for manslaughter. Health-care providers are potentially liable. This includes, but is not restricted to, National Health Service bodies. This paper considers the hypothetical liability of the various bodies involved in a well-known case of death arising from medical error, had the Act been in force when it occurred. The discussion illustrates the likelihood of difficulty in establishing liability. This difficulty arises not only from the requirements of the Act but also the involvement of several different bodies in the facts and circumstances of the fatal mistake. There are implications for a National Health Service whose future is likely to include greater fragmentation of service provision, with a greater number of corporate providers. Successful prosecutions for corporate manslaughter are expected to remain rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]