Psychiatric injury

Question 1

What is psychiatric injury?

Answer 1

Psychological damage suffered by the C must be due to the D’s negligence

Question 2

What is stage one of psychiatric injury?

Answer 2

must be suffering from a recognised psychiatric injury, not ordinary human emotions (Reilly v Merseyside Health Authority)

Question 3

What is the illness caused by in psychiatric injury? name the key case

Answer 3

A traumatic event, or an ‘assault on the senses’ (Sion v Hampstead Health Authority)

Question 4

What is stage 2 of psychiatric injury?

Answer 4

C either primary and secondary victims

Question 5

How is a primary victim defined and tested? name the key case

Answer 5

A person who reasonably fears for their own physical safety or is within the zone of danger (Page v Smith):
1. Psychiatric injury does not need to be foreseeable, merely that some kind of personal injury is
2. C does not need to be of normal fortitude (emotional strength)

Question 6

How is a secondary victim defined?

Answer 6

An unwilling witness to the traumatic incident but is not personally in danger

Question 7

How is a secondary victim tested? name the key case

Answer 7

Alcock set out control mechanisms, repealed in Paul, Polmear and Purchase:
1) Love - close ties of affection
2)Witness - accident or immediate aftermath (Mcloughlin v O’Brian)
3)Directly Perceive - accident or aftermath with own eyes
4)Connection - between witnessing and illness, accident caused injury

Question 8

What are the two side rules for primary and secondary victims in psychiatric injury?

Answer 8

Rescuers - If they are a primary then able to claim, if secondary then must satisfy Alcock (Chadwick v British Transport)
Bystanders - Cannot claim unless satisfy Alcock control mechanisms (McFarlane)