CHRONOLOGIES

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2. We also understand that there are occasions where a brief "one sentence description" is needed to mark each healthcare event. At Smedico Legal we call this our "Simple Chronology". An example where this may be appropriate would be for children, placed for adoption, who have complex health needs/requirements that prospective parents need to be aware of.

However, all Smedico Legal chronologies (Medical and School) have the following aspects in common:

They are factual, accurate and give a professional and objective representation of past medical events; ensuring relevance to any pertaining legal instructions.

All chronologies include:

1. Due to the fact that most of the cases we get are complex ones; our "Comprehensive Chronology" is usually preferred. Here, details regarding all health care related events will be recorded and important isolated comments will be written "verbatim" within the document. This is the chronology that would be used for a serious case review, fabricated induced illness cases or other forms of abuse where medical events both past and present are paramount.

A good chronology is becoming accepted as vital to both the assessment and management of any safeguarding case. At Smedico Legal we believe they are fundamental to the early identification of risk and its management. In the last 10 years chronologies have become meaningful tools in transforming medical records that have become bulky and difficult to view. In addition, it has been advised that "any chronology should be a working tool" and be "a part of the assessment as well as child/adult protection plan". (Social Work Inspection Agency, Scotland).

The potential for safeguarding information to be revealed is arguably greater in a medical environment than it is in a social care setting. We believe this is why it is important to request the medical notes early with any Safeguarding case, no matter what the nature of the specific concern.

At Smedico Legal we produce 2 types of Medical Chronology:

"If you would like to see anonymised examples of our work please complete the contact details on the contact page and we will facilitate this."

Contact Page

CHRONOLOGIES

They are suitable for court proceedings but can also stand alone as flexible documents that can be added to at a future date when more records become evident. We will help you to manage 'version control' by sharing our file organisational documents.

We understand that you will require chronologies for different reasons. We want our chronologies modelled to your requirements therefore we will be flexible so that you can maximise their eventual use. We will focus on the medical or school records as a base but can add entries from Child, Adult Services / Key CIN, Case Conference meetings or home visits for example.

Important declaration:

Confidentiality and data protection demanded by the Data Protection Act 1998 lies at the foundation of any information Smedico Legal handle or produce. Files are encrypted and couriered. Records are destroyed according to client specifications. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office.

If we identify any "red flag" information, we will inform you of any urgent undisclosed safeguarding concerns within 24 hrs of discovery. At the end of the case we will comply with NMC requirements by detailing any safeguarding issues that have been identified that we believe you may need to share with other agencies.

Smedico Legal are aware of the tight deadlines you experience and that many of the cases we handle represent an adult or child in legal limbo. We aim to turn around a single chronology within 10 - 14 days and a family chronology within 21 days.

Four Choices of Chronology Formats

There are 4 different chronology formats to choose from.

Examples can be seen by clicking on this link.

Smedico Legal chronologies are compiled by experienced Paediatric / Adult qualified nurses who have a thorough and current understanding of medico-legal safeguarding issues. As a specialist company please be assured that we have a heightened awareness of the confidential and sensitive nature of the information we handle. School Chronologies are compiled by those that have teaching qualifications.

Smedico Legal case handlers have an eye for detail. Our case handlers have the skill and experience to be able to identify what is not there as well as what is actually there. Missing records will be listed and suggestions given for sourcing them.