Dinesh Patel wrote:
>The jist of rules:
>Ideally the 2nd doctor should have previous acquiantance, IF at all
>practicable. This HoWever, this is not always possible and as long as the
>social worker is happy that the usual doctor is not contactable then this is
>acceptable.
>
To amplify what Dinesh said, the Section 2 guidance says the 2nd doctor
should preferably have previous acquaintance OR be Section 12 approved,
the implication being that if no doctor with previous acquaintance is
available then a 2nd Section 12 approved doctor is better than one with
neither qualification. This means that in a case like Robert's the ASW
should preferably be finding an independent Section 12 doctor, rather
than chasing the out-of-hours GP. In practice they rarely do unless the
GP refuses to attend, which the GP can do as they have no obligation in
this situation.
What follows from this of course is that each PCO should develop a cadre
of Section 12 doctors to provide an on-call rota for Section assessments.
On a related note, although "previous acquaintance" with the patient
normally means having treated them personally, it is arguable that a
familiarity with their history because they see one of your partners and
you have read their GP notes qualifies you to some degree, if no doctor
with a closer relationship is available.
David
--
Dr David Evans
Cardiff
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