Hello, for someone detained possibly over 50 years ago and who has been in receipt of aftercare services in the community since, would their record of detention still exist? I have seen that NHS records get deleted after 20 years, would this occur for someone who is still alive and in receipt of community services? If it would exist, does anyone know where it would be ? They have moved GP and they are unable to recall/communicate any details of any previous detention.
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I think GP records would be retained for the life of the person and should only be deleted after death. I would suggest that if P is subject to S117 after such time and it is contested, it would be down to the LA/NHS to prove ineligibility rather than P to prove eligibility.
S117 is only discharged when both the NHS and LA agree it is no longer required.
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I realise that the poster does not specifically talk about statutory aftercare, but if the person was detained over 50 years ago (i.e. before 1974), and never detained on a long-term section in the last 40 years, then that will be before the 1983 Mental Health Act and section 117 aftercare will never have applied.
Many mental health trusts have archived old paper records in remote storage locations, which means they may still exist (or may not) but are likely to be very difficult to retrieve.
Not to forget that the names of the NHS organisations and the areas covered will have changed numerous times over the decades.
If the person is unable to recall or communicate any information about their detention, I suspect it will be extremely difficult to obtain any details.
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Martin and Steve have provided you with some good info there. My suggestion would be to get a residence history (most people can remember where they have lived) and a history any former names, note their NHS number and date of birth.
Then approach the records manager at one of the mental health trusts. Each records manager has a register of every record kept by that trust, including those transferred to them from Trusts and health authorities that no longer exist (although there are sometime gaps!). They will be able to check their register of records and if they don’t have it connect with other records managers in any other areas where the person lived to find if they exist. The NHS has a records retention policy which has changed over time, see here Records Management Code of Practice - NHS Transformation Directorate however for anyone with a mental health care records it is 20 years, or 10 years after death. Each organisation I have worked in the 20 years has been after last contact, because many people have repeated contacts with MH, LD or ASD services inevitable it runs to the 10 years after death. Hope that helps.
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Sorry for the delay in responding, these are all extremely helpful replies. Steve I suspect what you say is right, Martin your point about disproving is very pertinent. Christine that is very helpful information about the records manager - I will follow up that route. Thanks again everyone 