A doctor who covers for a colleague has an immediate legal duty to care for his colleague’s patients whilst on call. This was recently confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal in South Africa in a case where a doctor (gynaecologist/obstetrician) agreed to cover for a colleague. The doctor positively responded to a telephone call from a midwife at 10h30 informing him that his colleague’s patient had been admitted to the hospital at 10h00 for…