INTRODUCTION
The Supreme Court decision in Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust arose from three conjoined cases – Paul, Polmear v Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, and Purchase v Ahmed – each presenting tragic circumstances of familial trauma following clinical negligence. Each claimant had suffered psychiatric harm as a result of witnessing the death or immediate aftermath of their loved ones’ fatal medical crises. The Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether these claims met the established legal thresholds for ‘secondary victim’ recovery in negligence, which has long been governed by the controversial decision in Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police. Through a restrictive interpretation of the Alcock ‘control mechanisms’, the decision of the Supreme Court arguably excluded many deserving claimants from being able to bring an action in negligence …
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Man Him Lee, Paul v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust UKSC 1: no quarter for deserving claimants, Medical Law Review, volume 33, issue 2, Spring 2025. Published: 18 April 2025.
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