Trust delaying access to records for weeks despite client authority and tribunal directions

Law and practice Mental Health Act
1

My local Trust is making it increasingly difficult to get access to clients’ notes.

Last week I had to represent a s3 client at his Tribunal without having seen his notes at all. I sent the MHAA my client’s signed authority immediately after signing him up, asking to see the last 4 weeks’ notes. I chased two weeks later and the MHAA said she would chase the RC. I asked again the day before the hearing, enclosing the generic Direction which the Tribunal had sent to me and to the hospital. On the morning of the hearing the MHAA told me that as the RC was off I couldn’t see the notes because there was nobody who could vet them.

This is not a one-off. In another case where I’m acting for the NR and another solicitor is acting for the patient, neither of us has been given access to the notes. We have asked the Tribunal to direct that we should be given access, but after more than two weeks haven’t had a response.

I have complained to the MHAA, whose response is ‘I will feed back your comments to help inform the work the Trust is doing relating to release of records and will let you know any further updates in due course’.

What do I do next?

2

Here are some ideas:

  • Write to the Chief Executive.
  • Complain to the CQC, though I’ve no experience of this (@mat_kinton?)
  • Ask the tribunal to refer the matter to the Upper Tribunal. In CB v Sussex County Council [2010] UKUT 413 (AAC) a headmaster was fined for failure to comply with a witness summons. The standard direction (rightly or wrongly) is usually taken to bypass the old requirement for the RC’s consent.
  • There are some other potential consequences of non-compliance listed in the standard direction.
1 Like
3

Thanks Jonathan, that’s really helpful