Healthcare professionals face an increasing threat of litigation from parties whom they have never met in their daily medical practice and who look nothing like the traditional patient. The so-called ¿non-patient¿ may take many forms¿for example, a person who is injured or killed by a mentally-ill, physically-disabled or diseased patient; a wrongfully-accused parent in a child neglect/abuse case; or a local authority which is put to the expense of caring for a negligently-treated patient. This book explores the legal principles and conundrums which arise when determining a healthcare professional¿s liability in negligence towards a wide variety of non-patients. The topic is assuming increasing legal importance and relevance, given the potential for many non-patient claims to give rise to class actions litigation, and in light of the legislative and human rights interventions, and the frequent appellate judicial consideration, which non-patient claims have attracted in recent times. The