Beechdale Health Centre

Notifications of DeathorUnauthorised Absence under the Mental Health Act 1983–Outcome 19 Composite Statements and Forms

Document Control

A.Confidentiality Notice

This document and the information contained therein is the property of Beechdale Health Centre

This document contains information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise protected from disclosure. It must not be used by, or its contents reproduced or otherwise copied or disclosed without the prior consent in writing from Beechdale Health Centre.

B.Document Details

Classification: / Internal
Author and Role: / Sally Bills- Receptionist
Organisation: / Beechdale Health Centre
Document Reference: / Notification of death/ unauthorised absence under mental health act
Current Version Number: / 1
Current Document Approved By: / Sally Bills
Date Approved: / 11.12.12

C.Document Revision and Approval History

Version / Date / Version Created By: / Version Approved By: / Comments
1 / 11.12.12. / Sally Bills / Sally bills / Created from default document

Practice Statement – Notification of Death to the CQC

The Practice is required to notify the CQC WITHIN THREE WORKING DAYS of the death of a patientdetained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act when:

a)The death occurred whilst a regulated activity was actually being carried out (e.g. during a GP's home visit, or during the patient’s visit to your surgery),

OR

b)The death occurred as a result of a regulated activity being carried out,

AND

The Patient had seen their GP in the two weeks before the death,

AND

The death was avoidable / related to inappropriate care and treatment.

The practice manager at the Practice is responsible for notifying the CQC of the death.

Where the Registered Person is unavailable, for any reason, the practice secretary will be responsible for reporting the death to the CQC.

When making death notificationson the dedicated CQC form, Unique Identifiers will be used in place of:

  • The name of the dead person;
  • The last person involved in providing care;
  • Relevant dates and circumstances.

CQC – Notification of Death Form

This embedded form has been created and provided by the CQC for the Practice to report occurrences of death under the circumstances illustrated in the Practice Statement, above.

This form can be sent by secure e-mail using NHS.NET ONLY by prior arrangement with the Mental Health Operations Team by calling 03000 616161 (press option 1 when prompted).

Any failure to ensure that its transmission meets current standards for secure delivery of confidential patient identifiable material will be the responsibility of the sender.

Alternatively the form can be sent bySecure Fax to: 0148 477 2179

Practice Statement – Notification of Unauthorised Absence to the CQC

The practice manager at the Practice is responsible for notifying the CQC of any absence without leave (AWOL) of a person who is detained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Notification should take place as soon as possible after the incident is noted (but not to the detriment of taking necessary actions to deal with the incident on a practical level detained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Where the Registered Person is unavailable, for any reason, the practice secretary will be responsible for reporting the unauthorised absence to the CQC.

When making unauthorised absence notificationson the dedicated CQC form, Unique Identifiers will be used in place of:

  • The name of the absent person;
  • Relevant dates and circumstances.

CQC – Notification of Unauthorised Absence Form

This embedded form has been created and provided by the CQC for the Practice to report occurrences of unauthorised absence under the circumstances illustrated in the Practice Statement, above.

This form can be sent by secure e-mail using NHS.NET ONLY by prior arrangement with the Mental Health Operations Team by calling 03000 616161 (press option 1 when prompted).

Any failure to ensure that its transmission meets current standards for secure delivery of confidential patient identifiable material will be the responsibility of the sender.

Alternatively the form can be sent bySecure Fax to: 0148 477 2179

Practice Record for Notification of Mental Health Death & Unauthorised Absence

Notifications often need to refer to confidential information. It would be against the Data Protection Act 1998 to submit a notification that included confidential personal information about the data subject(s), such as the person(s) name, or any other information that could identify them.

You must therefore use a unique identifier or code, rather than a name, when giving information about the data subject in a notification.

This embedded Excel Workbook is for the Practice to keep its own records of unique identifiers in relation to Mental Health notified deaths and unauthorised absences and in case the CQC require further details about individual cases.

Reminders within iQ Created CQC Documents to Notify CQC of Deaths under the Mental Health Act 1983

The below list of iQ created documents include appropriate reminders for the Practice that they may need to notify CQC in the event of the death of a service user detained or liable to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 whilst they are under an episode of care from the Practice:

Document Title
Carers Toolkit
Mental Capacity Assessment Guidance & Checklist

Doc. Ref – Version –

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