Psychiatric Injury Flashcards
What is the definition for psychiatric injury
- a long term diagnosed mental injury which is greater than grief or shock
What does not amount to psychiatric injury
- grief, sorrow, panic and terror (Hinz v Berry)
What is the definition for a primary victim
- a victim of an accident who suffers physical or mental injuries,or both
What is the definition for a secondary victim
- a person who suffers mental injury after witnessing an accident or its immediate aftermath
- the case of Alcock v chief constable of south Yorkshire police put restrictions on who could claim as a secondary victim
What 3 things must be satisfied to claim as a primary victim
- must have been in ‘zone of danger’ - reasonable fear for their own physical safety due to negligent event (Dulieu v White)
- if physical harm is foreseeable, so is psychiatric harm (page v smith)
- must prove their mental harm is medically recognised form of psychiatric injury (glossary of mental disorders)
What 3 things must be satisfied to claim as a secondary victim
- must have suffered recognised, diagnosed psychiatric injury (glossary of mental disorders)
- psychiatric harm must be a foreseeable consequence of D’s negligence (Bourhill v Brown)
- must fulfill criteria established in Alock to prove a relationship of Sufficient proximity to be able to claim
What is the acronym for the elements of a successful secondary victim claim
(Established in Alcock)
- C A U S E
Outline ‘close ties of love and affection’ as an element of the Alcock criteria
- must be a close relationship between victim and claimant
- parent/child, spouse/fiancé will automatically succeed
Outline ‘at the scene or aftermath’ as an element of the Alcock criteria
- claimant must have suffered at the scene or shortly after
- ‘aftermath’ is not defined but a 2 hour rule was established in the case of McLoughlin v O’brien
Outline ‘unaided senses’ as an element of the Alcock criteria
- psychiatric injury arose from witnessing injury or death of, or extreme danger or discomfort, to the primary victim through their own senses
- TV/radio etc is not sufficient
Outline ‘sudden shock’ as an element of the Alcock criteria
- injury must be caused by sudden and direct appreciation of a horrifying event
- rather than from ongoing stress,strain etc
Outline ‘even if the above are satisfied.. ’ as an element of the Alcock criteria
- a person with ‘reasonable fortitude’ also would need to have suffered the same reaction and injury, this is known as the threshold test
Why is there strict criteria for secondary victim claims (policy reasons)
- the risk of fraudulent claims
- because of greatly increased evidentiary difficulties which would lengthen litigation
Are ‘rescuers’ primary or secondary victims
- rescuers can be primary victims if - they assist at an accident, they can then claim for nervous shock
- rescuers are secondary victims if - be default they are secondary victims
