ABSTRACT
There are different types of statements and reports. They serve different purposes and are different in their content and structure. The health professional needs to be aware of the differences before compiling them. An important matter often not appreciated by the health professional is that when a request for a statement is received, the health professional may assume that the statement is just a note to their boss or the complaints department. In practice, if the matter proceeds to a hearing, the statement is re-written in a much more formal way in line with the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). It is often not appreciated that the first statement may be disclosed to the court. The court will then look for discrepancies between the original statement and the formal one. The records will be needed to reconstruct the detail. As time passes, memory fades and detail fades.
