New records management Code of Practice
Details
NHSX has published the updated Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2021 Records Management Code of Practice - NHSX. The format is very similar to the previous code, with an appendix (Appendix 2) that sets out the record retention period for different types of records. This appendix is very useful for data practitioners keen to ensure compliance with the UK GDPR requirement that records are not kept for longer than necessary.
The Code replaces the Department of Health document Records Management: NHS Code of Practice: Parts 1 and 2 (published in 2006 and revised in 2009 and 2016) as well as some old circulars from the late 1990s.
As NHSX is technically part of the Department of Health and Social Care, any providers of NHS care under the national standard contract (mainly Trusts, NHS Foundation Trusts and some independent sector providers) will need to comply with it. The updated code of practice is also referred to in the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit requirement regarding the appropriate maintenance of records.
The new code had been published in draft form for several months but its final adoption was delayed due to COVID-19. It’s good to see the final version has now been published, as the existence of the draft made it difficult to know whether to work to the new version or the old.
There is recognition that public inquiries (including the anticipated COVID-19 inquiry) may require organisations to hold on to information for longer than is set out in the code. But, as you would expect, the code defers to the inquiries on what should be kept and for how long. It advises that if you are in any doubt about whether a record may or may not be of use for an inquiry, it should be retained until there is a clear instruction from the inquiry. One of the first things we would expect the COVID-19 inquiry to do after it is set up, is to provide instructions on document retention. However, it is likely that is still some months away.
