Alex RKIn Devon Partnership NHS Trust v SSHC [2021] EWHC 101 (Admin), handed down on 22 January 2021, the Divisional Court has held that “the phrases “personally seen” in s. 11(5) and “personally examined” in s. 12(1) require the physical attendance of the person in question on the patient.” The NHSE/DHSC guidance will therefore have to be amended insofar as it allows for remote assessment.
More to follow.
I am delighted to have this clarified, as a psychiatrist.
I could not agree more with the comments about the examination being a multimodal one. I would be interested in people’s thoughts about how this can be interpreted for the devolved nations.