Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

A recent decision in the Supreme Court restricts 'secondary victim' claims to those who witness an accident or serious injury but removes the requirements that a Claimant must witness a "sudden shock to the nervous system, caused by a "horrifying event".

Where claims from 'secondary victims' (relatives who either witness a loved one being seriously injured in a horrific accident or the aftermath following such an event) are concerned, the law has always been controversial.

Lord Oliver in the previously decided case of Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1992], identified factors which he opined must apply in secondary victim cases to allow recovery by the Claimant. These have come to be known as the 'control mechanisms' imposed by the common law to define the limits of liability in such cases. In summary, to succeed a secondary victim must establish: