L3 Preparing Witness Statements v1 October 2020.pdf

Law Preparing a Witness Statement ©Department of Clinical Education & Standards  Legal Aspects of Care By the end of the session, understand the importance of accurate documentation when completing a witness statement, in line with current...

Law Preparing a Witness Statement ©Department of Clinical Education & Standards  Legal Aspects of Care By the end of the session, understand the importance of accurate documentation when completing a witness statement, in line with current legislation, policies and procedures ©Department of Clinical Education & Standards 2  Legal Aspects of Care What is an inquest? Who, when, where and how the deceased came about their death? Certain circumstances of an individual's death: Accident Suspicious/ unknown circumstances Violent death Unnatural Unknown following post mortem examination ©Department of Clinical Education & Standards 3  Legal Aspects of Care Legal Services receives approximately 140 new Inquest notifications each month Each requires a witness statement from attending crew staff At some point in your career, you will have to complete a Witness Statement A well written statement may prevent a summons to appear in the witness box! ©Department of Clinical Education & 4 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care Statements ©Department of Clinical Education & 5 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care Why is a witness statement required? Ambulance clinicians are usually the first people on scene, you may be asked as a witness to provide evidence of your recollection A witness statement should provide concise, accurate and factual information to enable the investigating team to build an evidence based case/portfolio ©Department of Clinical Education & 6 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care What happens next? The coroner will contact LAS legal services, who inform your local management team Protected time will be given for you to complete the witness statement, this must be completed electronically You will have access to your PRF and any accompanying paperwork ©Department of Clinical Education & 7 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care What happens next? The template and witness statement checklist should be utilised (all evidence must be factual, do not speculate) Once completed your CTM will check it before sending it back to the legal team Keep your own copy, adhering to patient confidentiality (station management can store this in your records) ©Department of Clinical Education & 8 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care Giving evidence in coroners court The legal services will fully brief you before attending court Attend in uniform, you will be supported by managerial staff (usually CTM) You should stand until you are asked to take a seat Depending on the case, they may ask you to read your statement alone or answer questions ©Department of Clinical Education & 9 Standards  Legal Aspects of Care Review PRF, witness statement, LA3 provided against the Witness Statement Checklist (15 minutes) Have all elements been completed? What could be improved? Discuss (10 minutes) ©Department of Clinical Education & 10 Standards Legal Aspects of Care ©Department of Clinical Education & 11 Standards