Nurses and liability for psychiatric harm to relatives

In negligence law, health professionals, including nurses, can be held liable if their actions or omissions harm a patient. This harm is not limited to physical injury but can also include psychiatric injury, which courts have recognised in legal claims (Page v Smith [1996]).

Concerns remain that psychiatric harm can affect both those directly involved in an accident and those who witness it, are related to the person, or hear about it. Therefore, courts are limited over who can claim damages for psychiatric harm by specifying conditions under which a duty of care arises.

In psychiatric harm claims, the law differentiates between primary and secondary victims. To limit liability, distinct rules are applied to each category (White v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1999]).

A primary victim is someone directly involved in the incident. To qualify as a primary victim, one of the following four conditions must be met:.