ABSTRACT
The legal position: In law the partner or next of kin has no right to information unless the patient has expressly authorized it (or is not sufficiently mentally competent to do so). Some doctors are reluctant to depart from this strict legal position, but most will agree that this is one of those areas where custom and common sense often dictate otherwise. Whenever a patient is in hospital, or ill in their own home, most anxious and caring next of kin will feel quite strongly that they have an immediate right to know what’s going on and how serious the position is, whether or not the patient’s permission has been formally obtained. Apart from anything else to refuse to say anything could cause them great anxiety.It may be a little different in an outpatient clinic.
In any serious situation the wise doctor, nurse or social worker will want to assess each relative - both as a potential carer and as a potential sufferer and victim. Has she had experience of similar situations? What seem to be her psychological state and her physical health and strength?Ideally, the hospital doctor would always discuss such things with the family doctor. If they can do so, both will benefit, especially the specialist. But all too often neither can find the time for it.So it’s all quite complex, and there seldom seems to be enough time to deal adequately with every aspect mentioned or with every way in which we might be of help. This contrasts with the remark of a colleague who once asked me, when he saw that I was speaking on this subject, ‘How will you fill 25 minutes talking about the patient’s relatives?’
