In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
If this helps, I show here what I have in my procedures book. So far, in 5 
years, not a single SHO has had to attend Court (touches wood)


POLICE STATEMENTS

Many of the injuries with which we deal become the subject of litigation. 
You will be asked to provide a statement on patients with whom you have 
dealt. There is a format to these statements to which you must adhere to 
avoid compromising yourself, your evidence or any of the participants. 
Above all, your statement must be honest, complete and consistent. You 
are, however, not trying to justify yourself and what you did: your 
statement is an impartial description of that person's care.

It must include 4 things:
1. Who you are
2. Why you are able to make the statement
3. What you found on the person you treated
4. How you treated it

and that is all.

Note that there is no reference to the history you obtained. This is 
hearsay, and therefore may not be admissible in Court.  Do not enter the 
patient's address. Your full statement will be read out in Court (and 
indeed, if questions are raised by your statement then you will be called 
for cross-questioning; another good reason to ensure your statement is 
completed correctly!) and there are obvious reasons why the patient's 
address should not be divulged. As it will be read out to a lay jury, who 
will not understand neuropraxia, laceration, haematoma and such, keep your 
language simple and concise. However, if you need to name a structure to 
identify it precisely, do so.

You can only provide any information on any adult with that person's 
written consent, and you can only provide information on a child with the 
parent or guardian's consent. You are also paid a fee (currently £26.40) 
for each statement you make. Pass your statement to the Unit Secretariat 
within 7 days of receipt, but not until you have seen the consent and 
signed the payment form. Photocopies or faxes of signatures are not 
acceptable, and neither is a promise that it is "back at the station".
 
A simple example; a man who was slashed with a Stanley knife on his left 
forearm:                        ***************************
Witness Statement

Statement of John Alan Smith
Age if under 21 Over 21

This statement (consisting of   1  pages each signed by me) is true to the 
best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that, if it is 
tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully 
stated in it anything which I know to be false or do not believe to be 
true.

Dated the    2nd     day of  March               2000

Signature        J A Smith


I am a fully registered medical practitioner, and I was employed as Senior 
House Officer in the Accident & Emergency Unit of Eastbourne District 
Hospital on February 9th 2000.I make this statement from my own 
contemporaneous notes. I was on duty at 17:25 hours on February 9th 2000 
when I was asked to examine Peter Hampden.
On examination I found a cut 4cm long by 0.5 cm wide on the left forearm 
about 2 cm from the wrist. It had clean edges and muscle and tendon was 
visible in the wound. Mr Hampden could not lift his thumb up and had a 
numb patch over the back of his hand. I diagnosed that he had cut the 
tendon of the extensor pollicis muscle and a branch of the radial nerve. I 
explored the wound under anaesthetic and found that the tendon was indeed 
cut and stitched the two ends together. I found that the nerve had not 
been completely cut, and did not need repair. I stitched the skin cut with 
15 stitches, and rested the arm in a plaster cast and a sling. I gave him 
some amoxycillin as an antibiotic and some codydramol as a painkiller and 
asked him to come back the next day for a check-up. J A Smith.           
**************************Note that the document is signed at the end as 
well as the beginning; also sign at the bottom and get someone else to 
countersign it. No spaces have been left between paragraphs. Fill in only 
your name and the address and 'phone number of the Unit on the back; do 
not give your home address, and you most certainly do not fill in the 
identifying details of maiden name, height etc. Block out any known 
holidays or other periods of absence over the next 3 months. Show me the 
first few for me to check.

Note that the Police occasionally supply a template; this is not to be 
used.


Best wishes,


Rowley Cottingham

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