Health Service Commissioner : first report for session 1978-79 : investigations completed August to November 1978.
- Great Britain. Health Service Commissioner
- Date:
- 1978
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Health Service Commissioner : first report for session 1978-79 : investigations completed August to November 1978. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![APPENDIX REPORTS ISSUED DURING FOUR MONTHS ENDED NOVEMBER 1978 Case No. W.441/76—77—Inaccurate statements in a health visitor’s report Complaint and background 1. A man complained to his Member of Parliament in May 1976 that inaccurate statements had been made about his wife in a report prepared by a health visitor. He further complained that on 6 June 1975 this report had been considered at a case conference organised by a Social Services Department (the local authority) at which it was decided that the name of their son should be transferred from the non-accidental injury to children register to the general ‘at risk’ register. The complainant, who had obtained copies of the report and the minutes of the case conference, was living in England at the time. On 28 May 1976 the Member took the matter up with the chairman of the Area Health Authority (the Authority), which was the health visitor’s employing authority. He also wrote to the local authority. As the complainant was not satisfied with the outcome of this correspondence, the Member asked me on 20 January 1977 if I would investigate the complaint. Jurisdiction and scope of investigation 2. Under the Act which defines my powers I am precluded from conducting an investigation in respect of which the aggrieved person has or had a remedy by way of proceedings in any Court of Law, unless I am satisfied that, in the particular circumstances, it is not reasonable to expect him or her to resort or have resorted to it. The Member wrote to me on 13 May 1977 to assure me that his constituent did not intend to take legal action for libel against the health visitor, and after a preliminary meeting on 29 July 1977 between two of my officers and the complainant, I agreed to carry out an investigation into the alleged inaccuracies in the health visitor’s report. The Commissioner for Local Administration, some of whose officers attended this preliminary meeting, agreed to carry out a parallel investigation into the actions of the local authority. I agreed with the Commissioner that we should co-operate over the enquiries as provided for in section 33 of the Local Government Act 1974. As statutorily required, we issue separate reports of the results of the investigation. In my report, however, references to the actions of the local authority are included to the extent necessary to place in proper context references to the actions of staff responsible to the Authority. 3. My investigation has been concerned with the following statements in the health visitor’s report: (a) ‘. . . She [the complainant’s wife] was too nervous to attend clinic alone and only came once with [the complainant] accompanying’; (b) ‘At a recent case conference in [the] Centre it was stated that they were arranging to get a social worker to visit and give [the complainant’s wife] more intensive therapy’; (c) ‘(The complainant’s wife] had been on small doses of Tryptizol from (the consultant paediatrician at .. . . Hospital [A]) but has been](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32220467_0006.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
