Lionel Stride examines P v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust: more layers to the patchwork quilt in secondary victim claims
- The High Court’s judgment in P v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust potentially represents a significant extension to the scope of liability to secondary victims of psychiatric harm.
Recovery for secondary victims of psychiatric harm is, as Lord Steyn commented in White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999] 1 All ER 1, ‘a patchwork quilt of distinction which [is] difficult to justify’. The recent High Court decision in P (a child, by her mother and litigation friend) and another v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust [2020] EWHC 1415 (QB) has added a few extra layers to that quilt, particularly on questions of ‘proximity’ and what constitutes a ‘shocking event’ in the context of clinical negligence claims.
Background
On 9 November 2012, Mr P was admitted to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton after complaining of chest and jaw pain. He was discharged on 12 November 2012 following various tests and investigations.
