Road Traffic Act, 1933
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Reimbursement of hospitals. |
174.—(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as the injured person) receives in a hospital treatment for injuries sustained by him by reason of the negligent driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle and such injuries were so sustained in such circumstances that the injured person is entitled or (if he has died) was during his lifetime entitled to recover from some other person damages for such injuries, any person liable to pay such damages to the injured person shall also be liable to pay to the governing body of such hospital if the injured person has been detained in such hospital for treatment in respect of such injuries or has received in such hospital (whether detained or not detained therein) such treatment in respect of such injuries as is mentioned in the next following sub-section of this section, such damages as are mentioned in this section. | |
(2) The damages payable under this section to the governing body of a hospital shall, subject to the deduction mentioned in the next following sub-section of this section, consist of one or both (as the case may require) of the following sums, that is to say:— | ||
(a) where the injured person has been detained in such hospital for treatment in respect of his said injuries, a reasonable sum in respect of such detention not exceeding in any case thirty-five pounds and, subject to that over-riding limitation, not exceeding whichever of the following sums is the lesser, that is to say:— | ||
(i) for every day during which the injured person is so detained, the sum of nine shillings, or | ||
(ii) for every such day a sum equal to the average daily cost per patient of the upkeep of such hospital with the staff thereof and the maintenance and treatment of the patients therein; and | ||
(b) where the injured person has received in such hospital in respect of his said injuries (whether detained or not detained in such hospital) treatment with any electrical or other special apparatus or treatment by means of massage, or treatment of any other such special kind, a reasonable sum in respect of such treatment, but not exceeding in any case fifteen pounds. | ||
(3) There shall be deducted from the damages mentioned in the next foregoing sub-section of this section all (if any) sums paid by or on behalf of the injured person to the governing body of the hospital in respect of the detention and treatment or either of them (as the case may be) in respect of which such damages are payable. | ||
(4) Where the governing body of a hospital recovers damages under this section in relation to the detention and treatment or either of them of an injured person, such governing body shall not be entitled to receive or recover from such injured person in respect of such detention and treatment or either of them (as the case may be) any money other than any sum which may have been paid by or on behalf of such injured person and taken into account in determining the amount of such damages. | ||
(5) The liability of a person to pay damages under this section shall, for the purposes of Part V of this Act and of any approved policy, approved guarantee or approved combined policy and guarantee, be a liability to pay damages on account of injury to a person occasioned by the negligent driving of the mechanically propelled vehicle which occasioned the injuries to the injured person in relation to whose treatment and maintenance (if any) such damages are payable. | ||
(6) In this section the expression “governing body” means the person or persons, whether incorporated or unincorporated, entitled to sue and liable to be sued in respect of such hospital as proprietor or manager thereof or otherwise. |