Psychiatric harm Flashcards
What 2 possible elements must psychiatric harm fall under?
a. Medically recognised psychiatric illness or,
b. Shock induced physical condition (e.g. heart attack)
What must a claim involve?
An actual recognised psychiatric condition capable of resulting from the shock of the incident and recognised as having long term effects
What case states that physical symptoms of fear and panic such as sweating and breathing difficulties are not sufficient?
Reilly v Merseyside Regional Health Authority
(claim failed when suffering from insomnia + claustrophobia)
What is the PoL for Tredget v Bexley Health Authority
Severe examples of mere distress, grief or fright may be accepted
What are the 2 categories of shock victims?
Primary victims
Secondary victims
Who are primary victims?
Those who are unwilling participants in the events causing shock
Who are secondary victims?
Those who are merely passive + unwilling witnesses (must fall into criteria)
Give 2 examples of someone who is a primary victim
Someone directly involved in an accident and either is, or could have been, physically injured (in the zone of danger)
If personal injury of some kind is reasonably foreseeable to the C because of the accident (even though no physical injury occurs)
What is the PoL for Page v Smith?
C doesn’t have to prove psychiatric injusry was foreseeable as D takes his V as he finds him
Give 3 case examples of primary v’s
- Dulieu v White & Sons
- Chadwick v British Transport Commission
- Dooley v Cammel Laird & Co
What case states that those who are put in reasonable feat for their own safety are primary v’s
Dulieu v White & Sons
What is the PoL for Chadwick v British Transport Commission?
Rescuers who are engaged in rescue activities and in reasonable fear for their own safety
What case sates that those who reasonable believe that they are about to be, or have been, the involuntary cause of another’s death are primary v’s?
Dooley v Cammell Laird & Co
Why was the Alcock criteria introduced?
To limit the large number of potential claims
To decide on whether a claim would succeed - were you a foreseeable victim to whom a duty of care is owed?
What are the 3 elements to the Alcock criteria?
- Close tie of love & affection
- Physical proximity in time & space
- Perceived the accident or aftermath withown unaided senses
Explain the 1st element of Alcock criteria
The secondary victim must have a close tie of love & affection with the primary victim
–> presumed to exist between spouses and parent & child
What case failed during Hillsborough disaster based on claim by police on duty?
White v CC South Yorkshire
What case states that a mere bystander will not be able to recover?
Bourhill v Young
Explain the 2nd element to the Alcock criteria with a case
The secondary victim must demonstrate physical proximity in time & space to the accident
–> present at the scene or witness immediate aftermath (McLoughlin v O’Brian)
–> depends on facts of case
Explain the 3rd element to the Alcock criteria
The secondary victim must have perceived the accident or aftermath with their own unaided senses
–> excludes cases where the secondary v’s only source of knowledge and info. is from a third party
What did the Supreme Court in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton remove the requirement of?
The injury must be caused be a sudden shock
What case limited the possibility of successful secondary victim psychiatric harm claims in medical negligence cases?
Paul
