Will they consider mental health issues?

[ForeverAndEverCheese]

I currently have a medical negligence case pending against my local hospital after a minor day-case procedure went horribly wrong, resulting in over six months in hospital and the loss of my large bowel.

As part of this, my entire medical records have been accessed and indexed - with my consent, of course. I was looking through last night and was shocked to see all the mental health stuff included. For background, I developed an eating disorder after a parent’s death when i was a teen, and then some self-harm-type behaviour when my partner left me.

The last incidence of that was over ten years ago and has absolutely no relevance to this case, but I’m scared it’s all going to getting dragged up publicly. Is there a way to prevent this? It really isn’t relevant.

th als

Publicly? Are you famous?

no

No, but I just meant through all the legal letters and even court, should it get that far. None of it is relevant but I would feel incredibly uncomfortable with lots of people poring over it, putting it on paper etc.

I'm sorry you have had a medical negligence case and also sorry that you've had mental health issues in the past. I'm not a legal person, but I'd advise you to ask whoever is taking your case whether your past medical notes have to be shared with everyone. But assuming that they might have to be, I'd be getting yourself emotionally a bit more resilient. That is, what do you think will happen should various people involved in this case read about your history? If it's not at all relevant to the issue at hand, surely they should dismiss it, much like a record of you having had, say, an abortion or a broken leg. So if that's the case, then what's the problem? Or are you just embarrassed that anyone (even those who don't know you and are unlikely to have anything to do with you in the future) knows about your past? That you might feel "uncomfortable" about it really is your problem. Because what's the solution? If you insist that your medical records are off limits, it may be that you then lose your medical negligence claim. Isn't whatever emotional discomfort you might feel about the revelation of your past worth whatever you hope to gain from this trial?

Thank you for that reply. It helps to have it all so rationally laid out. I guess it’s such distant history that almost nobody who knows me now knows about it. The idea of it all coming into the open is hard, but I assume lawyers have some sort of confidentiality clause too? I mean, they’re people I’ll never meet again so why worry? Helpful thar you put it thar way. Thank you!

I'm sure that there is some sort of confidentiality contract that lawyers have with their clients and I would assume with information disclosed by the other parties they litigate against. And as you say, they are unlikely to know you in any situation other than this legal one. So I would treat any revelation (should it happen) much like you would treat another healthcare professional reading your medical history. And good luck with your claim.