Deaths in the dental surgery: individual and organisational criminal liability

This paper is intended to update dental practitioners and commissioners of dental services on the significance of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 which came into force in April 2008. The paper places the Act in the context of the potential criminal (as opposed to civil) liabilities of dental providers. It looks in detail at criminal liability, health and safety and gross negligence manslaughter. In particular it explains the essential elements of the new offence: the threshold question of which organisations are covered, the relevant duty of care, when an organisation may be culpable, and what penalties they may face on conviction. The paper concludes that any dental provider may be liable for one of these offences (health and safety, gross negligence manslaughter or the new corporate manslaughter offence) but only a limited number is likely ever to find themselves answering a criminal charge.