[reposted from my LinkedIn account]
Does the law need clarifying on the publication of reviews into homicides by those receiving mental health services from the NHS?
The Times led recently on stories that NHS England was refusing to publish the full independent report into the health care and treatment of Valdo Calocane prior to his manslaughter of three people in Nottingham in 2023. NHSE apparently argued that data protection and patient confidentiality concerns prevented them publishing anything but a summary. Under pressure from victims’ families, and the media, NHSE about-turned, and the full report is reported to contain damning details of failings in Calocane’s treatment which were not in the summary version.
Now The Times reports that this is part of a pattern, since last year, of failure to publish full reviews of homicides by mental health patients, contrary to previous practice. It says that NHSE received legal advice that the practice “could breach data protection rules and the killers’ right to patient confidentiality”. The charity Hundred Families talks of cases where the names of victims are not published, or even the identity of the NHS Trust involved.
Of course, without seeing the advice, it is difficult to comment with any conviction, but I did write in recent days about how the law can justify publication where it is “necessary for a protective function” such as exposing malpractice, or failures in services. And it’s important to note that, in many cases, such reports show failings that mean that killers themselves have been let down by the adequacy of treatment: publication can surely, in some cases, cast light on this so that similar failings don’t happen in the future. In any case, guidance says that those preparing reports should do so with a view to their being published, and so confidentiality concerns should be taken into account in the drafting.
However, if NHSE remains concerned about the legality of publication, and if its legal advice continues to say that data protection and medical confidentiality law militated against disclosure, it strikes me that this might call for Parliament to legislate. I also believe that it would be welcomed if the Information Commissioner’s Office issued a statement on the legal issues arising.
The views in this post (and indeed most posts on this blog) are my personal ones, and do not represent the views of any organisation I am involved with.
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