1. Law Record Keeping and Documentaion
Walter Brennan RMN, BA(Hons.), Dip. Mediation, Dip. Mindfulness, Cert. Ed, Cert. Mental Health First Aid, Cert. Psychological First Aid, Expert Witness

2. The need to have in place an indemnity arrangement is a mandatory requirement of the Code.
When applying to join or renew your registration with us, nurses and midwives are required to self-declare that they have in place, or will have in place, an appropriate indemnity arrangement when they practise in the UK.

3. Each nurse and midwife is responsible for making sure they have the appropriate cover for their role and scope of practice. The cover they have in place should be relevant to the risks involved in their practice, so that it is sufficient if a claim is successfully made against them.
Which leads to…

5. The court room is where legal practice meets health &social work practice.
If health workers often approach relationships with legal practitioners with apprehension, even distrust, then their work in and around courts tends to evoke discomfort, lack of confidence and fear.

6. It is also in the court room that any doubts about procedures, interpretation and use of the law, and about powers, duties and the values that underpin them, coalesce.

7. Yet it is also the setting where the robustness of practice and a care worker’s knowledge of the law and of healthcare can make a key, empowering difference to the experience of, and outcomes, for patients, practice or health and safety

8. What makes a good report?
Two of the reasons why reports are used as forms of written assessment are:
 to find out what you have learned from your reading, research or experience;
to give you experience of an important skill that is widely used in the work place. 

9. understand the purpose of the report brief and adhere to its specifications;
gather, evaluate and analyse relevant information;
structure material in a logical and coherent order;
present your report in a consistent manner according to the instructions of the report brief;
make appropriate conclusions that are supported by the evidence and analysis of the report;
make thoughtful and practical recommendations where required. 

10. Introduce the main idea of the chapter/section/paragraph
Explain and expand the idea, defining any key terms.
Present relevant evidence to support your point(s).
Comment on each piece of evidence showing how it relates to your point(s).
Conclude your chapter/section/paragraph by either showing its significance to the report as a whole or making a link to the next chapter/section/paragraph.

11. Before the day Read through your report Review the documentation
Be clear who has called you to attend
Find out where the court is and how long it will take you to get there
Find out how long you will be needed for
Make sure the care records will be available at the court
Make sure you have adequate cover arrangements in place.

12. Giving Evidence in Court
Approaching giving evidence in court is all about preparation. If you have prepared your case well if you are very familiar with your case, if you are organised then giving evidence doesn’t have to be a daunting experience.

13. When it is your turn to give evidence, you will be shown to the witness box. A court officer will ask you to swear that the evidence you are about to give is the truth.

14. Evidence in Chief
The purpose of the examination-in-chief is to make your evidence clear. The lawyer for the party which called you will take you through your evidence. The judge may wish to ask you questions to further clarify your evidence at this stage.

15. one of the first things you do when you step into the witness box is give your name, give a sense to the court of your qualifications, your experience, your expertise.

16. you have to understand that what you’re doing is trying to sell to the court a particular view of the situation, you’re trying to convince the court that the proposals that you’re putting to them are the proposals that represent the best interests of the service/ service user/dept/etc and you need to think about how a professional effectively sells their opinion to you.

17. Cross-examination - The lawyer acting for the other party will question you about your evidence. Remember, their role is to draw attention to any contentious issues of fact or opinion.

18. dress professionally, as it really does help
dress professionally, as it really does help.
- ask for a glass of water when going into the witness stand at court or when at the reporters office for a discovery – it helps cure that dry mouth problem.


19. - wait for questions to be asked before responding and consider the answer that you want to give – a sip from the water glass will buy you a few more seconds.


20. - if you don’t know the answer to the question, say so or ask for the question to be clarified.
- If you know that there is a document that will help you with your memory in answering the question, refer to it and ask to see it.
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Be careful of the sentences that start “Wouldn’t you agree …”. Agreeing without thinking is usually is a bad thing when being cross-examined, so consider the question asked and answer it honestly and carefully.


21. - Answer the question, stop talking and wait for the lawyer to ask the next question
- Don’t ramble on. Sometimes lawyers will intentionally not ask another question and will just look at you. They are trying to goad you into talking more than you should.


22. - Do not ever fight with the lawyer who is asking you questions
- Do not ever fight with the lawyer who is asking you questions. You will rarely win that battle of wits. When you lose your cool, you’ve lost more than just that.

- Don’t use “uh-huh”, “nope” or “yep”. Those are not words. And avoid nodding or shaking your head, as there is a reporter present whose job is to type out what you say.
- If you get tired, ask for a break.

23. Thank you oliverbrennan@btinternet.com