swarb.co.uk

Hi,

I understand that as a father (PR) I have the right to know of my daughter's new doctor.

Is this true? The change would have been very recent and was wondering how to go about it.

Has anyone dealt with this? I have just rung the Primary Care Trust for the area concerned and they say 'No'


Thanks

I very much doubt there is any obligation on a health authority to disclose this detail unless ordered to by a court.

Morally you have a right but there is no legal requirement to let you know. This I do know.

Whats moral and whats legal.......the legal just does not seem to keep up with the moral.

Of course you can get permission from a court to know....hope you have a bit of cash.....the more and more I see this the more and more I see the words money spinner.

No-one is ever going to go to court to deal with this as an issue standing on its own, Bakedalasker. Just think about it.

Yes, you may be right that the system is bad and you will be ripped off but (in my opinion) a number of posters on these forums let their prejudices spoil their arguments that could be better put.

Thought you would say that Mouse.

What I think is a moral right should not cost. Sadly it does.

If you have parental responsibility you have the duties and obligations that go with raising your child. That necessitates you being properly informed about matters concerning the health of your children. By definition you must have full details of your child's G.P. and health visitor and if I were you I would make it an occasional habit of consulting the health visitor to be kept fully informed. This presumes of course that you get no information from your ex. You can find out where the G.P practice is through your area NHS office. You need to demonstrate you have P.R.

I have said on these forums before that if if so called "parental responsibility" meant anything it would not, since December 2003, have been given to unmarried fathers.

The reason why it would make sense that a health authority should not be obliged to disclose the identity of a child's doctor is that the health authority has no way of knowing that the person who seeks the information is not doing so in order to be abusive to the child or (more likely) the other parent. This is not a judgement that the health authority ought to make.

Genuinely abused mothers (and I use the word "genuinely" advisedly) are often traced by devious means, including inside information being given by employees of public authorities. It happens, in my experience mostly in Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities.

The reality is that if you seek information as to the whereabouts of your child you make an application to the court that a particular body (usually a public body such as an education authority or the DWP or a health authority) discloses their information to the court and the court then decides what to do with it.

Expect to pay £500 plus £215 court fees Bakedalasker. If your solicitor charges you more sack them and get another one.

I've submitted my request in writing to the relevant Caldicott Guardian, with required documentation. So let's see what happens.

I found this (and quoted it)

The Access to Health Records Act 1990 requires 'the holder of a health record' - a doctor, dentist or other health professional - to provide access to health records in response to a request.

Section 3(1) of the Act states that:
3(1) An application for access to a health record, or to any part of a health record, may be made to the holder of the record by any of the following, namely –
(a) the patient;
(b) a person authorised in writing to make the application on the patient's behalf;
(c) where the record is held in England and Wales and the patient is a child, a person having parental responsibility for the patient;
(d) where the record is held in Scotland and the patient is a pupil, a parent or guardian of the patient;

You can't just read that subsection in abstract though. The further subsections provide exceptions to the general rule that might be applicable.

Also, isn't access to a health record completely different from wanting to know the name of your daughter's doctor?

The court fees are unavoidable sadly. However cant this be done by DIY? Went down my local WH Smith today and notice they are selling DIY packs for divorce and a few other subjects. I might buy some just out of interest.

Bakedalasker. These things can be done as a litigant in person.

Most solicitors offer a free half hour advice in which to explore their options.

My own practice is to let clients know that one of their options is to take on their case themself and I point them in the right direction - Some people take this option up.

What I am not particularly sympathetic to are those punters who then decide to go it alone (with a WH Smith pack for example) and expect further free advice when they lose their way.

But that's just me.




(Edit) No, on reflection that isn't quite true but I am not quite sure how to re-word it.

I have had more than one instruction putting right the mess a client had made trying to save the expense of legal advice.

You are now expressing a different issue than the one you posted. You are not entitled to see medical records whether you have P.R. or not. That is a matter for the G.P. He or she has discretion over disclosure and has to decide if it is in the best interests of the child to do so. You are entitled to know who the G.P. is and to be informed and consulted on matters affecting your child's health and as long as you can verify the question of P.R. you should be able to obtain the G.P.'s or practice details without undue problem from the NHS area office. If you want to see the records and the G.P. refuses, you would require an Order.
Incidentally, unmarried men do not automatically obtain P.R. unless they attend registration with the mother and sign the register with her.

Another spin on this topic maybe the age of the child concerned.

If she is deemed to be 'gillick competent' by the doctor and she
expresses a wish to that doctor not to disclose or discusss medical matters
with you, then the doctor is under a duty to consider the childs wish.

If the Doctor decideds to honour the childs wish then there is nothing you can do about it.

Thought I'd give an update on this, in case anyone is interested.

I have, since last posting, located my daughters new Doctors ( ), established with them and have it on record that I have PR, and am now in possession of a print out of her medical records.

All at the cost of a couple of phone calls and two postage stamps.