Nicholas Robinson wrote
> Subject: keeping medical records after patients leave
> the new GMS forms have to have an audit trail.
> are people going to keep records on computer of patients who have
> LEFT the practice? (for at least 3 years)
In principal I would guess that is up to each practice to decide,
although some central guidance would clearly be welcome. My advice
would be to keep the records for ever, in machine readable form, but
to keep them off-line, with only a pointer held on-line to tell you
where the records are.
>
> will this breach the DP Act?
I do not think that it would. The Act makes it clear that records
must be held only for as long as is necessary for their purpose. My
line here is that
* holding the records may be necessary to allow some other
person to access them after the patient leaves your practice.
Of course this access must be legitimate within the original
registered purpose, for instance access by the patient's new GP to
clarify a point in respect of treatment while the pateint was with
your practice. Of course once the patient dies he ceases to be a
Data Subject, although his records may still contain references to
OTHER Data Subjects such as relations or sexual contacts, and these
must be safeguarded
* the cost of keeping the records is negligibly small. A few
coppers for the medium on which they are stored, and the cost of a
fireproof safe (on your own premises) or the use of space in a bank
vault. If the records are securely held, the risk of unauthorised
access is low. If the records are destroyed, they can NEVER be
reinstated.
* arguably the records should be held indefinitely, in case
they are needed as evidence in some form of legal process.
Mike Wells
>
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Professor Mike Wells
Department of Physics, The University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Phone: 0113-233-2339 E-Mail [log in to unmask]
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