Full SGS notes on Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Law. Includes a step by step guide on how to answer each possible exam question. Colour coded for ease of reference. Highway Code references and relevant statutes included.
,Details about exam
3-hour paper
Section A - 5 MCQs on a variety of topics
Roughly 3 marks per question. 15 marks in total
Section B- Personal injury
Will be asked to draft a Particulars of Claim (PoC) or a Defence from scratch for an
employer’s liability, highway accident or road traffic accident scenario.
Will be asked to conduct a case analysis of a personal injury claim of a road traffic
accident, highway accident or an accident at work (employers’ liability).
Worth about 45 - 55 marks
Section C -Clinical negligence
Worth about 25-35 marks
Permitted materials
The Official Highway code
Judicial college guidelines
CPR Handbook 1
Medical negligence and Personal injury (MNPI) resource pack
In exam, try and copy out the relevant statutes as accurately as you can when
answering a question!
Only refer to cases highlighted in chapter notes.
SGS1: Introduction to road traffic accident claims
2
,Meena Kazi case study
Meena Kazi (MK) had been for a meal with Janice Streeter (JS) and Vera. They all drunk some
alcohol. JS offered to drive Vera Wells (VW) and MK home. On the way home, the car ended up in an
accident. MK wants to issue proceedings against JS.
*Note: Limitation period expires 3 years later from date of accident or date of knowledge of the
accident e.g., if accident happened on 1st March 2021, limitation period ends on 1st March 2024 -
s11[4] Limitation Act 1980]
Common law duty
A driver has the duty to drive with reasonable care and skill expected of an ordinary competent
driver. Learner drivers are ALSO held to the same standard.
Highway codes (HC) book
HC Rule 95 – Do not drink and drive (pg 29)
HC Rule 124- Do not exceed the speed limit (pg 41)
HC Rule 144 -Drive with due care and attention (pg 47)
HC Rule 146 – Adapt driving to conditions of the road (pg 48)
*Note: Can refer to the Highway code in a case analysis but NOT in the Particulars of Claim.
Statutory duty
To drive with due care and attention – ss.2 and 3 Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988)
Not to drive whilst under the influence of alcohol- ss.4,5 and 11(2) RTA 1988
Drive within the speed limit -ss.81, 86 and 89 RTRA 1984
*Note: Breaching the RTA 1988 is a CRIMINAL offence. Do not refer to a statute in the PoC because
you are dealing with a CIVIL matter.
When conducting a case analysis in the exam, follow this pattern:
1. Case analysis - Liability
Common law duty
State the common law duty:
To drive with reasonable care and skill expected of an ordinary competent driver Nettleship
v Weston [1971])
State the relevant Highway Code(s):
HC Rule 95 – do not drink and drive
State how there has been a breach of the common law duty. APPLY the scenario. E.g.
Janice in in breach of the common law duty by failing to drive with reasonable care and skill.
Although the Highway Code itself does not give rise to proceedings, it can be relied on in any
proceedings under S38[7] Road Traffic Act 1988.
3
, Statutory duty
State the relevant statutes. Be sure to write them out in full
To drive with due care and attention under:
-s. 2 RTA 1988 - “A person who drives a mechanically propelled vehicle dangerously on a
road or other public place is guilty of an offence” and;
-s. 3 RTA 1988 -“If a person drives a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road or other public
place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons
using the road or place, he is guilty of an offence”
To not drive whilst under the influence of alcohol under:
-s.4 RTA 1988 – “A person who, when driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled
vehicle on a road or other public place, is unfit to drive through drink or drugs is guilty of an
offence”.
-s.5 RTA 1988 –“If a person—
(a)drives or attempts to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, or
(b)is in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place,
after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath, blood or urine
exceeds the prescribed limit he is guilty of an offence”.
-s.11(2) RTA 1988 – definition of prescribed limit of alcohol
(a) 5 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath,
(b) 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, or
(c) 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine,
State how the statutory duty has been breached. APPLY the scenario. E.g.
Janice is in breach of the statutory duty by driving whilst under the influence of alcohol.
2. Case analysis – Causation and defences
Causation
State factors that could have caused the accident e.g. speeding, alcohol, conditions of the road, poor
weather. APPLY the facts in the scenario. E.g.
-It had been raining on the night Janice was driving the car, this could have led to her car skidding on
the road and losing control.
-Janice's dangerous driving had caused her to lose control of the vehicle, causing the car to swerve
thus resulting in the injuries sustained.
Defences
State whether there was contributory negligence. E.g.
4
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