ABSTRACT
Health professionals may become involved in the court process in many ways. In all of the court forums, the health records will usually be relied on as evidence. When giving evidence the patient will be very compelling, whereas for the health professional, unless there was something very unusual or untoward about the matter that makes it stick in the memory, the detail will have been forgotten or at best will have merged into the background of a busy caseload. In the absence of any evidence to contradict what the patient said, their version of events will prevail. The only way the presumption that the claimant is right can be overcome is with the records. In practice, the judge would decide, in light of the evidence given by the witnesses, the weight that will be placed upon the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the records.
