For a Section 3 case, I have three months of progress notes totaling about 500 pages. Do I need to consider all of them, or just some? Is there any way to approach this more efficientlyfor example, by reviewing the initial pages from admission and the most recent pages from the past few months?
To be honest if you think it’s important to obtain them then you should read them thoroughly! I assume you have a reason and are looking for something!
Steve
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If you didn’t think that you needed them because they were important, why did you ask for them?
If you have them then read the carefully otherwise you risk missing something you should have picked up.
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Thank you. I was under the impression that progress notes were required in the same way as section papers, as part of the standard procedure, and that they were mandatory for peer reviews. Is that not the case?
Thank you Steve.
Are progress notes mandatory to obtain for every file?
I’m not really sure what answer you’re looking for.
it sounds like you want to be told that it’s ok and and you don’t have to read the 500 pages you’ve been sent.
It also sounds like you’re more worried about your next audit than the matter at hand which is to prepare your client’s case properly.
I don’t think I can put myself in the frame of mind to be able to advise you if you don’t understand the importance of proper case preparation and what you need to do to achieve it.
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If you use Co-Pilot you could ask it to create a summary of the whole record, which may highlight some areas for further scrutiny.
This is a worrying post for a number of reasons. Your question should be directed to the category supervisor.
From the point of view of the hospital, when we share records we have to check for third party. Someone from the hospital has checked 500 pages worth of notes to be shared and therefore your post is somewhat disheartening. Personally, I think when solicitors are asking for notes they should ask for progress reviews which take place every other week at least. These reviews summaries events and action plans.
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Some context which might help 
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Solicitors are bound to ask and consider these records by the quality standards of our LAA Contract and Peer Reviews. Personally, I don’t think the weekly notes would suffice as MDT Meetings / Weekly Reviews may state the number of incidents or a brief overview, but they’ll rarely give the full (sometimes important) context. Equally, things important to us and the client’s case might not be important to the MDT (e.g. comments made to nursing staff or an absence of symptoms) therefore wouldn’t be reflected in weekly notes. As a result:
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Many (most, I hope!) solicitors do carefully consider all records disclosed; but even if some do not;
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Many Trusts don’t redact third-party records but instead ask the solicitor to undertake not to disclose unredacted records to their client and for the client to make a full request if they wish to access themselves. So not every bundle has been checked & signed off.
Whilst it may be disappointing to read a thread like this - it doesn’t reflect the standards of the profession.
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I think if you have the notes you should read them all. But you should know what you’re looking for, and so know which parts to skim and which to read in detail. You might need more than 3 months’ notes. You might identify other documents that you need to obtain.
Use your own intelligence rather than artificial intelligence! I’m sure you should not use any AI tool that uses cloud resources.
Make a file note of your thoughts as you along, for future reference and to justify the time.
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