scholarly journals Are psychiatric case-notes offensive?

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 675-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Crichton ◽  
Athanassios Douzenis ◽  
Claire Leggatt ◽  
Timothy Hughes ◽  
Shôn Lewis

During the last decade there have been a number of legislative changes establishing and extending the rights of patients to have access to their own medical and social service records. The Data Protection Act 1984, as modified by the Subject Access Modification Order 1987, gave patients access to computerised medical records with certain restrictions, in particular for information thought to be harmful to patients. The Access to Personal Files Act of 1987 granted access to Social Services Records. Again there were restrictions, e.g. to protect clients from serious harm or to protect confidential staff judgements. Finally, the Access to Health Records Act of 1990, which took effect on 1 November 1991 gives patients access to their own medical records and enables them to correct inaccuracies which they may find. Information likely to cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the patient or of any other individual who could be identified can be withheld.

The law ascribes great importance to maintaining confidentiality in medical matters. Chapter 21 considers the means by which that principle is enforced at common law and by statute, lifetime exceptions to it, and whether it endures after death. The chapter discusses how to go about obtaining access to one’s own medical records under the Data Protection Act 1998, and access to the medical records of deceased persons under the Access to Health Records Act 1990. The rights of patients under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 to see and veto medical reports sought from their doctors by employers or insurance companies are also covered. The 2002 Regulations which authorize processing of anonymized patient information for public health and research purposes are summarized. In conclusion, the chapter looks at how the NHS undertakes to handle patients’ information in its published ‘Care Record Guarantee’.


Author(s):  
Julia Smedley ◽  
Finlay Dick ◽  
Steven Sadhra

Data Protection Act 1998 578Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 580Freedom of Information Act 2000 582The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force in 2001 and governs the collection, holding, use or release of data on individuals as required by EC Directive 95/46/EC. It sets out principles of good data handling (‘the eight principles’) and confers several rights on individuals. This Act replaces the Data Protection Act 1984 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990, although the latter still applies to access to the medical records of dead people....


1991 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 753-754
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Jones

Recent legislation, the Access to Health Records Act (1991), which came into force in November, will mean that patients will be able to apply for access to their written case file. This law will not be retrospective, and notes written before this date will not therefore fall under the scope of the act. Similar legislation has already been passed enabling access to Social Services case files (Access to Personal Files Act, 1987). The legislation follows increasing pressure for consumer rights in various areas and follows similar developments allowing access to health records in other countries.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-99
Author(s):  
J. L. Withecomb

I am a Consultant Psychiatrist who spends a large proportion of my time providing input to non-health settings. This includes work with the East Sussex Social Service Secure Facility, the Medway Secure Training Centre, the Brighton & Hove Youth Offending Team, Queensdown EBD School and the East Sussex Special Placements Scheme.I read Professor Pearce's paper (Pearce, 1999) with interest, but felt that there were a number of important omissions. I also felt that the perspective taken on some areas was itself so ‘medical’ as to be unhelpful in supporting truly collaborative work with professionals from a different background.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-108
Author(s):  
Giulia Signorini ◽  
Nikolina Davidovic ◽  
Gwen Dieleman ◽  
Tomislav Franic ◽  
Jason Madan ◽  
...  

Purpose Young people transitioning from child to adult mental health services are frequently also known to social services, but the role of such services in this study and their interplay with mental healthcare system lacks evidence in the European panorama. This study aims to gather information on the characteristics and the involvement of social services supporting young people approaching transition. Design/methodology/approach A survey of 16 European Union countries was conducted. Country respondents, representing social services’ point of view, completed an ad hoc questionnaire. Information sought included details on social service availability and the characteristics of their interplay with mental health services. Findings Service availability ranges from a low of 3/100,000 social workers working with young people of transition age in Spain to a high 500/100,000 social workers in Poland, with heterogeneous involvement in youth health care. Community-based residential facilities and services for youth under custodial measures were the most commonly type of social service involved. In 80% of the surveyed countries, youth protection from abuse/neglect is overall regulated by national protocols or written agreements between mental health and social services, with the exception of Czech Republic and Greece, where poor or no protocols apply. Lack of connection between child and adult mental health services has been identified as the major obstacles to transition (93.8%), together with insufficient involvement of stakeholders throughout the process. Research limitations/implications Marked heterogeneity across countries may suggest weaknesses in youth mental health policy-making at the European level. Greater inclusion of relevant stakeholders is needed to inform the development and implementation of person-centered health-care models. Disconnection between child and adult mental health services is widely recognized in the social services arena as the major barrier faced by young service users in transition; this “outside” perspective provides further support for an urgent re-configuration of services and the need to address unaligned working practices and service cultures. Originality/value This is the first survey gathering information on social service provision at the time of mental health services transition at a European level; its findings may help to inform services to offer a better coordinated social health care for young people with mental health disorders.


1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 204-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Butler ◽  
Dasha E. Nicholls

The Access to Health Records Act came into force on 1 November 1991. This legislation allows patients access to their written medical records (access to computerised records is covered by separate legislation). Concerns have been expressed about the implications of this Act for staff and patients, particularly in psychiatry. These concerns have included detrimental effects on patients exposed to their notes and the restrictions it could place upon staff in recording speculation or subjective opinion. We report the following findings: staff attitudes to the new legislation including awareness of the Act, evaluation of the Act as useful or detrimental and the Act's implications on clinical practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 581-588
Author(s):  
Ewa Grudziewska ◽  
Marta Mikołajczyk

The subject of the analysis presented in this paper are work effectiveness factors in the opinion of social workers and probation officers. The research was conducted among 121 persons: 64 probation officers executing judgments in family and minors related cases, and 57 social workers. The method of a diagnostic survey was applied during the research. The results show that 62,5% of probation officers consider their work effectiveness as moderate and 31,2% consider their work effective when 64,9% of social workers consider their work moderately effective and 31,6% claim their work is effective. Undoubtedly, the effectiveness of work of both probation officers and social workers depends largely - in the opinion of respondents - on their professional experience and skills, good contacts with the local community in which they work or work autonomy, though the high prestige of the profession is not a factor supporting effectiveness of their work. The presented research results can not refer to the entire population of representatives of these two professions, but they indicate further directions of research on the broadly understood professional identity of representatives of social services inPoland.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 343-351
Author(s):  
T. Skliarova ◽  
D. Zaitsev

The article analyzes the principles of interaction of regional social services with children with disabilities and their families. The authors considered the working practices of social institutions as well as cultural and educational institutions as the subject of the study. This allowed for the author’s analysis and interpretation of existing contradictions arising from the introduction of inclusive practices into the organizational culture of the regional social service. The data obtained in the course of the interregional empirical study demonstrate the disproportionateness of the processes of socialization and inclusion of children with disabilities, which is expressed in the lack of readiness as social services themselves (in methodological and methodical levels) and staff (practical, procedural levels) to carry out their mission - the application and development of inclusion practices not only in educational and social and social areas, but also in the field of sociocultural and professional socialization. The study found that, despite constant discussion of inclusion and disability, the concept of ‘inclusion’ is still misunderstanding among social service professionals. This has a negative impact on the effectiveness and effectiveness of the day-to-day activities of social services, the quality of their work, and the implementation of ideas of inclusive culture in practice.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Fauzik Lendriyono

AbstrakGejala sekularisasi organisasi pelayanan sosial semakin masif. Sekularisasi ini disebabkan karena masyarakat semakin rasional pada realitas sosial yang menuntut kualitas pelayanan sosial lebih baik. Masyarakat yang rasional adalah masyarakat yang mampu mengorganisir dan melakukan peran serta tindakan atas dasar pertimbangan logis atas realitas. Hadirnya organisasi menjadi cirri masyarakat rasional. Organisasi adalah bentukan sosial yang berisi kesepakatan gagasan pemikiran, nilai, ideologi dan tujuan. Ketika agama menjadi bagian di dalamnya, maka organisasi menjadi lebih kuat dengan tatanan nilai dan aturan-aturan yang selalu merujuk pada nilai agama sebagai dasar keyakinannya. Keyakinan pada nilai agama menjadi spirit organisasi untuk merancang dan merealisasikan tujuannya. Maka organisasi yang berbasis keagamaan memiliki sensifitas dan orientasi untuk kesejahteraan yang lebih baik. Kesejahteraan tidak hanya bagi obyek, tetapi juga bagi subyek organisasi. Tesis Weber bahwa semakin menguatnya organisasi atau lembaga formal di masyarakat justru akan mempersempit ruang-ruang keagamaan, ternyata tidaklah demikian. Justru dengan hadirnya agama dalam organisasi, maka jangkauan organisasi semakin luas, memasuki sel-sel organisasi secara lebih dalam dan manusiawi.   Kata kunci: keagamaan, organisasi, strategi AbstractSymptoms of secularization of social service organizations are increasingly masiv. This secularization is caused by increasingly rational society in social reality that demands better quality of social services. A rational society is a society capable of organizing and performing action based on logical reasoning of reality. The presence of the organization became the cirri of rational society. Organization is a social form that contains agreement of ideas of thought, value, ideology and purpose. When religion becomes part of it, the organization becomes stronger with the order of values and rules that always refer to the value of religion as the basis of its belief. Confidence in the value of religion becomes the spirit of the organization to design and realize its objectives. Hence religious-based organizations have sensitivity and orientation for better welfare. Welfare is not only for the object, but also for the subject of the organization. Weber's thesis that the strengthening of formal organizations or institutions in society will actually narrow the religious spaces, it is not so. Precisely with the presence of religion within the organization, the scope of the organization increasingly widespread, entering the cells of the organization more deeply and humanely.Keywords: organization, religion, strategy


1966 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander H. Leighton ◽  
Dorothea C. Leighton ◽  
Robert A. Danley

In recent years a method of conducting mental health surveys has been developed which relies mainly on interviewing individuals according to a questionnaire. Subjects for the surveys are chosen by statistical techniques so that they will be representative of designated populations regardless of whether or not they have ever had psychiatric treatment. The questionnaires are administered by trained interviewers who as a rule are not psychiatrists; the data are later evaluated by psychiatrists who make a series of ratings on each individual in the survey. Inasmuch as surveys of this type show a very high prevalence of psychiatric disorder in many populations (from 10% to 60%), the question of validity becomes a matter of major importance. In the present study 123 individuals were examined and rated independently by both the survey technique and by a psychiatrist employing his usual clinical approach. After the psychiatrist had made his independent rating he was allowed to see the survey data and also to re-examine the subject again if he wished. He then made a final rating constituting his best judgment based on all information available. The degree of agreement is indicated in Tables I to IV. Table I deals with symptom patterns considered without regard to diagnostic implications. Thus, a given individual may have more than one of these symptom patterns. Table II concerns impairment by reason of psychiatric symptoms. Table III deals with a rating as to whether or not the subject is a psychiatric case: ‘A’ means almost certainly a psychiatric disorder of some sort; ‘B’ means probably; ‘C’ means doubtful; and ‘D’ means almost certainly not a psychiatric case. (Note that the group here studied was deliberately weighted with ‘A’ and ‘D’ ratings and hence is not representative of any population.) Table IV summarizes the agreements. While more work is needed, and studies of this kind should be repeated, the results so far show considerable agreement between the survey and clinical methods. This suggests that the large percentage figures obtained by surveys are properly matters of serious concern and that they have far-reaching implications for the teaching and practice of psychiatry.


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