Final answer:
The legal tort that has occurred is potentially negligence, where the provider's failure to perform hand hygiene before a procedure led to a patient's infection. This could result in a legal claim due to the breach of duty of care.
Step-by-step explanation:
The legal tort that has occurred in this scenario can potentially be identified as negligence, which is a failure to take proper care in doing something, leading to damage or injury to another. In the context of healthcare, hand hygiene is crucial to prevent the transmission of infection. If a medical assistant observes a provider not performing hand hygiene before a procedure such as suture removal, and the patient develops an infection subsequently, it can be argued that the provider's negligence has resulted in harm to the patient.
Considering the critical importance of hand hygiene in preventing iatrogenic diseases and nosocomial infections, it is a standard medical practice established to minimize the risk of infection. Failure to adhere to this practice might constitute a breach of duty of care, which is one of the required elements to be proven in a negligence case. This situation points to the direct cause of the patient's hand infection and could potentially lead to a legal claim against the healthcare provider for not following the established protocol of hand hygiene.