Transfer of case notes between child and adolescent mental health services and adult services

In response to several requests from members of the College seeking advice about the issue of the transfer of case notes between child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and adult services, the College's Executive and Finance Committee has considered this issue, with advice from the Child and Adolescent and General and Community Psychiatry Faculties.

In so doing, the Committee has taken into account the need to respect the fact that some patients may not wish the details of their earlier family history to be made available without their permission on reaching adulthood.

There is also a need to respect the right to confidentiality of the other family members concerned in the original referral, that is parents and siblings and that of third party informants.

The following principle has now been endorsed by the College's Council:

1. • In all cases where a young person is being seen in the CAMHS service at the time of handover to the adult services, the case notes should be transferred. However, wherever possible the transfer of notes between professionals in different teams in different parts of the trust should be accompanied by permission.

2. • In the case of an emergency, it might be acceptable to have access to the notes regardless of whether or not permission had been granted. In all other cases where the child or young person had been seen in the past in CAMHS, but is not currently being seen at the time of handover, referral to the adult services should be accompanied by permission from the patient and family wherever possible.

3. • Information from third informants should be removed from the case notes before they are handed over. Where this is not possible, permission should be sought for their disclosure from those informants.

We would be interested to receive feedback from members in relation to this policy.