163Obligation of officials to assist Official Visitors, &c.

163 Obligation of officials to assist Official Visitors, &c.

(1)  All persons discharging responsibilities under this Act must give patients such reasonable help as they may require in making complaints under this Part.

(2)  Specifically, if a patient expresses to a person discharging responsibilities under this Act a wish to see or complain to an Official Visitor, the person must inform an Official Visitor of that wish within 24 hours.

(3)  Additionally, if a person discharging responsibilities under this Act knows that a patient has expressed a wish to see or complain to an Official Visitor, the person must, to the maximum extent of the person's lawful and physical capacity to do so –

(a) grant Official Visitors access to those parts of premises in which the patient is being accommodated or being assessed or treated; and

(b) facilitate private and direct communication between Official Visitors and the patient (consistently with the patient's wishes); and

(c) grant Official Visitors access to records relating to the patient's assessment, treatment and care, including clinical records (unless the patient has asked that Official Visitors not be granted that access); and

(d) grant Official Visitors access to other relevant records or registers required to be kept under this Act; and

(e) answer questions about the assessment, treatment and care of the patient to the best of the person's knowledge and in a full and frank manner (unless the patient has asked that Official Visitors not be provided with that information); and

(f) give Official Visitors such other reasonable assistance as they may require.

(3A)  [Section 163 Subsection (3A) inserted by No. 4 of 2023, s. 149, Applied:25 Sep 2023] In addition to subsection (3)(c) , a person discharging responsibilities under this Act must, to the maximum extent of the person's lawful and physical capacity to do so, grant an Official Visitor access to records relating to a patient's assessment, treatment and care (including clinical records) if –

(a) the Official Visitor has requested access to the records, regardless of whether the patient has expressed a wish to see or complain to an Official Visitor; and