Getting access to medical and legal documents

mumps

DJBenson wrote: »

She was wanted in her home country. I am very unclear on the ins and outs of the woman in question apart from her beating me and my two younger brothers, but perhaps the Social Services records may have something on this.

I see, I thought you meant she hadn't got a visa or something. Hope you get some clarity.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

You could look up what court (might be a specific family court) covered the area of your address at that time and contact the admin people there and ask how to go about such a search.

I once had a job that involved getting hold of copies of enquiries into mental health care failings; every hospital/health trust seemed to have different approaches to archiving and data release so you may have to be persistent and ask to speak to different departments.

DJBenson

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

You could look up what court (might be a specific family court) covered the area of your address at that time and contact the admin people there and ask how to go about such a search.

I once had a job that involved getting hold of copies of enquiries into mental health care failings; every hospital/health trust seemed to have different approaches to archiving and data release so you may have to be persistent and ask to speak to different departments.

Thanks. I know the court was in Manchester so I've emailed the family court there asking if they have any information or can point me in the right direction.

Kimmie26

My mum recently handed me copies of her court battle with my father over custody of me. That was from 1990 ongoing to 1996. She'd kept all correspondence between solicitors/court date hearings and copies of written statements I'd got dragged out of class to write for the court.

Would your grandparents have kept copies of such paperwork?

Even if you had one letter from a firm of solicitors you might be able to follow it up with them?

Good luck in your quest for some closure.

DJBenson

I wish it were that simple They probably did keep copies but my grandfather moved out of the family home to live with his new partner a couple of years before he passed away, leaving only my brother living there. He's a bit of a troubled soul and I'm told he has binned/sold everything from the house so if there was anything it's been destroyed now.

I've had a quick look at names of solicitors in my home town which they might have used but firms have been bought out several times so the chances of my finding the actual firm are very slim I fear.

Guest101

SARS cost £10, and often I don't use the forms they request.


As long as your request is legible, that is all that's required

babybluetoo

OP, do make a subject access request to Lancashire Council if you think they may have had involvement in your case. If you were a Looked After Child, the records are kept for 75 years.

Baby

DJBenson

One of the few things I am certain of. We were made wards of court and had intervention/support throughout childhood from LCC. I've emailed their social services team as this cannot be an unusual request so perhaps they have a process or specialist team that can deal with my request, failing that I'll just issue another SAR.

TBagpuss

OP, as others have said, your best bet is Social Services. Did your grandparents live in the same county? If not, the records may have been transferred to the local authority where you were living, if you were still a ward of court at that time, so it may be worth checking both councils.

Medical records should follow you every time to register with a new GP but they do sometimes go missing (My mother has no records from before her marriage, for instance)

On the plus side, rules changed in 1989. Prior to that, councils only had to keep records for 3 or 4 years after a child left care, but from 1989 they were supposed to keep records until the child's 75th birthday, so accidents such as fire or flood apart, they should still have your records.

However, data protection rues do allow some withholding of records where these are likely to cause distress.
You are only entitled to your *own* records, so where these overlap with the records of your siblings, you may find that parts are withheld.

In terms of the solicitors involves, they may not have kept files this long: most would keep files related to cases related to a child for 6 years after the child's 18th birthday. Also, the person entitled to access the file would be the solicitor's client, so you might not be able to get much information that way.

The court itself may still have some records but possibly only any orders, not necessarily reports or other documents.


Good luck.

DJBenson

Thanks TBagpuss

I noticed on the NHS SAR form there was mention of withholding documents which may cause distress; kind of makes this task difficult as most of the documents are likely to cause some kind of distress, the very nature of the information I'm seeking is very distressing - I just hope there isn't a blanket "no" from certain parties to simply avoid complying.

Yes, my grandparents lived in the area covered by Lancashire County Council Social Services - the time periods I am interested in, LCC actually had a much wider coverage area than they do now (for example I attended a school in Cumbria which was actually LCC controlled).

Much of the information I am seeking is likely to cover me and my two siblings, I would assume/hope that medical records at least are at a patient level and as such they should just be about me - if there is any crossover then it's fair enough if details about my brothers are withheld depending upon the extent of editing that is required to remove any reference to them. I can't imagine the Social Services reports are written in any other way than referring to us as a collective - i.e. it was all three of us that suffered this abuse in some way so I'm thinking I might struggle to get anything like a full picture out of LCC.