Legal issues of extended practice: Where does the responsibility lie?

The development of new roles in healthcare has been developing rapidly since even before the publication of the NHS Plan in 2000. The driving forces have encouraged the blurring of traditional professional role boundaries and the development of extended roles in practice in which health professionals have adopted tasks out of their normal scope of practice. This paper examines the legal implications of such actions and highlights the importance of recognising the legal responsibility of taking on tasks beyond their recognised role. The case law applicable to this area is discussed and applied to clinical negligence cases that could arise from practice that is beyond the scope of professionals within their field and appropriate conclusions are drawn.