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Risk assessment in a climate of litigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Glynn Harrison
Glynn Harrison*
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol, 41 St Michael's Hill, Bristol BS2 8DZ
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There has been a sea change in public attitudes toward the use of litigation in medicine over recent years. Mental health professionals are beginning to add an additional factor to their risk calculations when managing difficult patients: the assessment of risk (of a civil action) to themselves in the event of an untoward incident. This development must be recognised and anticipated if we are to assess fully the potential benefits, and the costs, of closer surveillance of vulnerable patients in the community.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 170 , Issue S32: Assessing risk in the mentally disordered , April 1997 , pp. 37 - 39
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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