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Access to records and client held records for people with mental illness

A literature review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Richard Laugharne*
Affiliation:
Joint Academic Department of Psychological Medicine, The London Hospital Medical College, 3rd Floor Alexandra Wing, Turner Street, London El 2AD
Anna Stafford
Affiliation:
Tower Hamlets Health Care Trust
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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Increasing involvement of users in health service planning has led to a movement towards patients having more information about their care. Some have advocated patients having access to their medical records and this is now a statutory right. There has been concern as to whether this is suitable in mental health. An addition or alternative to access to medical notes is a client held record which might increase the patient's feeling of autonomy while also improving communication and compliance. In studies on access most patients and staff have found this beneficial. Client held records have also been positively received in the few studies reported but more evaluation in routine practice Is needed.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996

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