Bereaved families and victims of mental health-related violence will continue to be “left in the dark” under planned laws which allow hospitals to withhold information about patients, charities have warned.

The victims’ commissioner has also expressed concern that the government is missing an important opportunity to redress the balance towards victims, who she said already faced barriers to getting “even the most basic information” about offenders.

The Victims and Courts Bill, being debated in the Lords, places the onus on hospital managers to decide “as they consider appropriate” how much information about mentally ill perpetrators is passed to victims and families.

In the past, victims have been distressed to discover that homicide perpetrators were released back into the community, and sometimes in close proximity, without their knowledge. The Nottingham public inquiry has shown how clinicians were reluctant to pass information to police and other authorities about a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who killed three people in June 2023.

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Julian Hendy, of the charity Hundred Families, which campaigns for transparency and awareness of mental health-related violence, said victims and their families were not often given important information such as being notified when perpetrators applied for day release.

He said that the rights and protections of victims in cases where perpetrators received hospital orders needed to be brought into line with cases where offenders were imprisoned and more information was readily available.

Under the current system, victims are signed up to a contact scheme and are passed information from hospitals and clinicians via a liaison officer.

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The legislation cements that position, giving hospitals and clinicians powers to decide if it is “appropriate” to disclose information to the victim. Hendy said that it was not right that the decisions could be made without talking to victims or families, explaining the decision or giving them any right of appeal.

Hendy said: “We know the NHS is really poor at supplying necessary information to bereaved families after mental health related homicides. All too often they prioritise the confidentiality of the criminal patient over the wellbeing and recovery of the traumatised victims.

“Yet the current proposals entrench this and will give clinicians and hospital managers rights to determine what is appropriate for victims to receive, without consulting them, explaining their decisions or giving them any right to appeal.

“The government has an opportunity to put this right.”

Claire Waxman, the victims’ commissioner, has warned that the priority of hospital managers is patient confidentiality, meaning that the concerns of victims are frequently sidelined, requests for information are often denied and they are “left in the dark”. She has called on the government to introduce amendments that will improve transparency.

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Waxman said: “For the families of those harmed by mentally disordered offenders, their grief is a life sentence. They deserve clarity and transparency, yet all too often patient confidentiality is put before the needs of those who are grieving. Currently, these victims face barriers to even the most basic information about the offender.”

Baroness Levitt KC, under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Justice, told the Lords that improving the provision of information did not require new legislation.

She said that clinicians needed to be given the confidence to improve transparency and better understanding of their obligations in that area. She said that the government would ensure there was not a “knee-jerk defensiveness” about disclosing information through new initiatives such as training programmes.

The Ministry of Justice said: “The Victims and Courts Bill will ensure all victims can request important information about an offender regardless of whether they’re serving their sentence in prison or detained in hospital.

“Baroness Levitt has this week committed to clearer guidance for clinicians, stronger support for victim liaison officers and new information for victims, improving the consistency of updates victims receive.

“We will continue to engage with victims and campaigners as the bill moves through parliament.”