Psychiatric Harm

Question 1

What is psychiatric harm?

Answer 1

When C suffers a recognised psychiatric illness or shock-induced physical condition (e.g heart attack, miscarriage) as a result of witnessing traumatic events.

Question 2

Which element is altered for the purposes of establishing a claim for psychiatric harm?

Answer 2

Where duty of care is owed.

Question 3

What must be shown to establish psychiatric harm in the case of a primary victim?

Answer 3

• Put in reasonable fear for their own safety.
• Recognised psychiatric illness or shock induced physical condition.
• Physical harm was reasonably foreseeable.
• Duty of care owed by precedent or Caparo v Dickman.

Question 4

What is required to establish psychiatric harm for secondary victims?

Answer 4

• C was not in the danger zone
• Reasonable fear for the safety of others
• Psychiatric harm was reasonably foreseeable
• Proximate relationship to the victim of harm (close ties of love and affection, rebuttable presumed for parent/child, spouses and engaged couples)
• Proximate in time and space (at scene of accident, in immediate aftermath i.e arriving at hospital).
• Injury is a result of sudden shock
• Fair, just and reasonable to impose duty of care).

Question 5

What is the duty in relation to psychiatric harm in the employment / hospital / policing context?

Answer 5

Where D assumes responsibility for C (police informants, doctor-patient, employer-employee), D owes C a duty of care in respect of foreseeable psychiatric harm.

I.e make employer aware of stress, other signs of stress, nature and extent of work.