Police aibu

[angru]

I reported domestic violence to the police a year ago. Turns out they haven’t actually investigated it and are starting to now.

They have requested details of my counsellor and my GP

AIBU to not be comfortable with the police accessing my medical records? They haven’t actually explain to what extent they will use my records, just that I can’t pick and choose evidence.

I have spoken about the abuse with my counsellor but also about personal subjects - I’m assuming the unrelated personal subjects would be shared with the abuser?

I don’t think I’ve spoken to my GP about my abuse so all of it is unrelated, so would all my medical records be shared with the abuser?

if it’s just the relevant sections then fine, but I don’t see why my entire medical records need to be disclosed. There’s nothing bad on there but it feels like an invasion of my privacy

Have you had any legal advice?

No I haven’t had any legal advice, don’t think the police provide any to victims

It's taken a year to investigate domestic violence? Heavens

Exactly. they’ve only bothered contacting me cause I’ve sent emails asking for an update. They’ve literally done nothing since.

I don't think any of it would be shared with the abuser would it? I'd definitely check what they want the records for

They have only started to investigate after a year??? I'm so sorry. That's shit.

I think it will as it will be filed as evidence. The officer who called me didn’t clarify- just said “you can’t pick and chose what evidence” and “I’ll note down that you have refused” as if I was not engaging with her.

If you’ve never mentioned anything to the GP re the abuse, you don’t need to provide it. However if you’ve ever received medical treatment for an injury caused by the abuse, even if you’ve not said it was caused by it, or ever been seen when you had a visible bruise they make of made a note of etc, the police will need it.

The reason the police want it is they are duty bound to locate and disclose any relevant third party material to the court incase anything undermines the case or assists the defence. It’s a legislation thing to do with the human right to a fair trial.

if they’re collecting this material, they are building a case for court. Depending on what else they’ve been doing I.e any forensic work or phone downloads, it can easily take a year to get to this point due to workloads etc.

I hope this gives some clarity, it doesn’t sound like they explained it very well.

Hi OP, firstly I'm sorry to hear that you are a victim of abuse. I'm also sorry to hear that only a year later are the police doing something about it. I hope you have some good people around you, and find the counselling beneficial.

I have experience in GDPR and therefore if I were you, my first question to the police would be under which legal basis of GDPR Article 6 are they relying on to justify this information sharing? And how is obtaining your medical records relevant to the abuse investigation? You have every right to know exactly what they are doing and WHY, so please do push them for answers if you need x

@Inapicklee frankly the abusers seem to have more rights than I do, it’s awful.

I didn’t go to the GP as most of the harm to me was verbal or light physical ie pushing and shoving, as I was able to put a lock on my bedroom door to bunker in. I have photos of injuries caused to me on the day I left where he tried to kill me, the police also have images of the injuries as they attended on the day. I sent over the videos and photos over to the police last year but apparently they don’t have them any more 😕 and they haven’t contacted any of the witnesses they said they would as the officer asked for these details all over agin. I think the investigation literally hasn’t progressed.

@angru i don’t disagree with you about their rights!

Thats fair enough re the GP, if you tell them that they should accept that. Guidance has recently changed (courts used to want ALL third party material ‘just incase’) but it’s a been reduced a bit so it’s only stuff that’s relevant that should be obtained and disclosed.

That does sound dreadful, I’m sorry they’re giving you a shit experience (on top of what you went through) Hopefully it’s been passed over to someone else who will start progressing it now.

Seek legal advice

Yourself.

Why are they investigating the victim not the perpetrator??

He doesn’t get all of it. The CPS have to disclose anything they intend to rely on and anything that assists the defence or undermines the prosecution.

The fact you raised it with your counsellor some time prior to making a complaint (if you did) might be used to rebut a claim by the defence that you invented DV when your partner left you (I know you left him - this is what he might say).

There have been cases where someone claiming to be a victim has told a completely different story in the counselling / medical notes - there was a case where a man convicted of historical sexual abuse was cleared on appeal when it turned out from the medical notes the complainant had a history of making false allegations.

The police therefore need to check partly because it might help the prosecution case and partly because they have a duty to the accused to make sure there is nothing there to help him.

The courts have never wanted or got “all third party material just in case”. However until recently there were no proper guidelines on when the police should look for this sort of material.

A DV case where counselling/medical records may exist is exactly the sort of case where the police / CPS should be checking those records.

Requesting GP details is standard on a risk assessment for domestic abuse. The fact you have made a report is shared with the surgery so they can be aware you may need support and can assess any injuries you present with in light of the fact there is DA within the household.

in order to actually access your medical records, you would need to sign to say you consent for them to be disclosed in relation to a specific (or several specific) incidents of abuse. It’s supporting evidence if your GP can corroborate injuries or your demeanour at a certain time.

Police are never just handed entire medical histories to review. Never. As that information falls under GDPR etc. and it’s actually a really lengthy and often difficult process to obtain medical statements. Police have to pay for the information they are provided.

I imagine you would also need to consent to your counsellor disclosing details of private conversations as that is also confidential information. Again it would only be requested if police felt it would corroborate your account and give a better prospect of conviction at court.

I hope that offers some reassurance OP.

The thing is, I have spoken to my counsellor eg about the abuse and also about work issues. Would the work issues be disclosed to the abuser?

like from my perspective, I’ve made the effort to leave. Why does he get updates on my life via my counselling records? Just feels like an extension of the controlling behaviour

The fact you have made a report is shared with the surgery so they can be aware you may need support and can assess any injuries you present with in light of the fact there is DA within the household.

is this true? Because I made the report over a year ago and the GP hasn’t offered me any support or even referenced DV in any conversation I have had with them.

Because legally he has the right to a fair trial and checking whether there are previous inconsistent accounts by the complainant is part of that.

They will be investigating the accused in depth (or at least they should be) but seeing if there is anything relevant in regard to the complainant is fairly standard in this sort of case.

Liam Allen is a case where checks on the complainant (accused of rape, checks on her phone proved the sex was consensual) meant the case had to be thrown out.

If there is nothing inconsistent, very little will be disclosed.

It should happen but perhaps doesn’t.

Ive read several DHRs where GPs had contact with victims but failed to offer support despite it being recorded somewhere on the file that there was DA.

I suppose it depends how carefully medical staff review a patients notes.

I feel that they are investigating me in more depth than him. Considering they haven’t done anything with the investigation in a year. So he’s just roaming around scott free and I’ve been wondering what’s happening. I bet they’re not asking him for his medical records

@Flapjack637 why wasn’t I asked for consent if I wanted my GP to be made aware of my report though?

Honestly I feel like after that call with the police, making a report is more hassle than it’s worth. Now my medical records will be exposed and I’ve apparently got a “DV marker” on my medical records following me around. What if I present with a problem and they tell me I’m imagining the symptoms because I have history with DV or something

I think the police officer wanted me to drop the investigation to be frank. For example she started off with, “it’s been a year now and you’ve left him with no contact since, you might feel like you have moved on and don’t want to proceed?”

bare in mind this was the first time I’d heard from the police in a year….so I was like I do want to proceed. But the rest of the conversation has genuinely made me want to drop the investigation.

she asked if I have time stamped images in my phone. I said I saved them to the cloud and took them off my phone. I think if I said they were on my phone, she would have asked to seize my phone.

Does the pp expert in GDPR remember the bit in the training about the law enforcement directive? It might be a useful bit of additional reading.

can anyone actually link the guidance you are all speaking about as it would give me assurance to see the actual law