Appendix A – Retention Schedule Broad descriptor Record Type Retention Retention period Action at end of retention period Notes Care Records with standard retention periods Adult health records not covered by any other section in this schedule Discharge or patient last seen 8 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Basic health and social care retention period - check for any other involvements that could extend the retention. All must be reviewed prior to destruction taking into account any serious incident retentions. This includes medical illustration records such as X-rays and scans as well as video and other formats. Care Records with standard retention periods Adult social care records End of care or client last seen 8 Review and if no longer needed destroy Care Records with standard retention periods Children’s records including midwifery, health visiting and school nursing Discharge or patient last seen 25th or 26th birthday (see Notes) Review and if no longer needed destroy Basic health and social care retention requirement is to retain until 25th birthday or if the patient was 17 at the conclusion of the treatment, until their 26th birthday. Check for any other involvements that could extend the retention. All must be reviewed prior to destruction taking into account any serious incident retentions. This includes medical illustration records such as X-rays and scans as well as video and other formats.
Care Records with standard retention periods Electronic Patient Records System See Notes See Notes Destroy the electronic system has the capacity to destroy records in line with the retention schedule, and where a metadata stub can remain demonstrating that a record has been destroyed, then the code should be followed in the same way for electronic records as for paper records with a log being kept of the records destroyed. If the system does not have this capacity, then once the records have reached the end of their retention periods they should be inaccessible to users of the system and upon decommissioning, the system (along with audit trails) should be retained for the retention period of the last entry related to the schedule. Care Records with standard retention periods General Dental Services records Discharge or patient last seen 10 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Care Records with standard retention periods GP Patient records of Patient 10 years after death see Notes for exceptions Review and if no longer needed destroy to
Care Records with Retention Periods Contraception, sexual health, Family Planning and Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) Discharge or patient last seen 8 or 10 years (see Notes) Review and if no longer needed destroy Basic retention requirement is 8 years unless there is an implant or device inserted, in which case it is 10 years. All must be reviewed prior to destruction taking into account any serious incident retentions. If this is a record of a child, treat as a child record as above. Care Records with Retention Periods HFEA records of treatment provided in licenced treatment centres 3, 10, 30, or 50 Review and if no longer needed destroy Care Records with Retention Periods Medical record of a patient with Disease (CJD) Diagnosis 30 Years or 8 years after the patient has died Review and consider transfer to a of Deposit For the purposes of clinical care the diagnosis records of CJD must be retained. Where the CJD records are in a main patient file the entire file must be retained. All must be reviewed prior to destruction taking into account any serious incident retentions. Care Records with Retention Periods Record of long term illness or an illness that may reoccur Discharge or patient last seen 30 Years or 8 years after the patient has died Review and if no longer needed destroy Necessary for continuity of clinical care.The primary record of the illness and course of treatment must be kept of a patient where the illness may reoccur or is a life long illness. Pharmacy Information relating to controlled Creation See Notes Review and if no longer needed destroy to Pharmacy Pharmacy prescription records see also Controlled Discharge or patient last seen 2 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy to
Event & Transaction Records Datasets released by HSCIC under a data sharing agreement Date specified in the data sharing agreement Delete with immediate effect Delete according to HSCIC instruction Event & Transaction Records Destruction Certificates or Electronic Metadata destruction stub or record of clinical information held on destroyed physical media Destruction of record or information 20 Years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Destruction certificates created by public bodies are not covered by an instrument of retention and if a of Deposit or the National Archives do not class them as a record of archival importance they are to be destroyed after 20 years. Event & Transaction Records Equipment maintenance logs of the equipment 11 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Event & Transaction Records General Ophthalmic Services patient records related to NHS financial transactions Discharge or patient last seen 6 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Event & Transaction Records GP temporary resident forms After treatment 2 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Assumes a copy sent to responsible GP for inclusion in the primary care record Event & Transaction Records Inspection of equipment records of equipment 11 Review and if no longer needed destroy Event & Transaction Records Notifiable disease book Creation 6 Review and if no longer needed destroy
& Transaction Records Operating theatre records End of year to which they relate 10 Years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit If transferred to a place of deposit the duty of confidence continues to apply and can only be used for research if the patient has consented or the record is anonymised. Event & Transaction Records Patient Property Books End of the year to which they relate 2 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Event & Transaction Records Referrals not accepted Date of rejection. 2 years as an ephemeral record Review and if no longer needed destroy The rejected referral to the service should also be kept on the originating service file. Event & Transaction Records Requests for funding for care not accepted Date of rejection 2 years as an ephemeral record Review and if no longer needed destroy Event & Transaction Records Screening, including cervical screening, information where no cancer/illness detected is detected Creation 10 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Where cancer is detected see 2 Cancer / Oncology. For child screening treat as a child health record and retain until 25th birthday or 10 years after the child has been screened whichever is the longer. Event & Transaction Records Smoking cessation Closure of 12 week quit period 2 Review and if no longer needed destroy & Transaction Records Transplantation Records Creation 30 Years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit See guidance at: https://www.hta.gov.uk/codes-practice
Event & Transaction Records Ward handover sheet Date of handover 2 years Review and if no longer needed destroy This retention relates to the ward. The individual sheets held by staff must be destroyed confidentially at the end of the shift. Telephony Systems & Services (Out of hours, single point of contact call centres). Recorded conversation which may later be needed for clinical negligence purpose Creation 3 Review and if no longer needed destroy The period of time cited by the NHS Litigation Authority is 3 years Telephony Systems & Services (Out of hours, single point of contact call centres). Recorded conversation forms part of the health record Creation as a health record Review and if no longer needed destroy It is advisable to transfer any relevant information into the main record through transcription or summarisation. Call handlers may perform this task as part of the call. Where it is not possible to transfer clinical information from the recording to the record the recording must be considered as part of the record and be retained accordingly. Telephony Systems & Services (Out of hours, single point of contact call centres). The telephony systems record(not recorded conversations) Creation 1 year Review and if no longer needed destroy This is the absolute minimum specified to meet the NHS contractual requirement.
Clinical Trials & Research Clinical Trials Master File of a authorised under the European portal under Regulation (EU) No 536/2014 Closure of 25 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit For details see: Clinical Trials & Research European Commission Authorisation (certificate or letter) to enable marketing and sale within the EU member states area Closure of trial 15 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Clinical Trials & Research Research data sets End of research Not more than 20 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Clinical Trials & Research Research Ethics Committee’s documentation for research proposal End of research 5 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit
Clinical Trials & Research Research Ethics Committee’s minutes and papers Year to which they relate Before 20 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Committee papers must be transferred to a place of deposit as a public record: Corporate Governance Board Meetings Creation Before 20 years but as soon as practically possible Transfer to a Place of Deposit Corporate Governance Board Meetings (Closed Boards) Creation May retain for 20 years Transfer to a of Deposit Although they may contain confidential or sensitive material they are still a public record and must be transferred at 20 years with any FOI exemptions noted or duty of confidence indicated. Corporate Governance Executive records Creation May retain for 20 Transfer to a Place of Deposit This may include emails and correspondence where they are not already included in the board papers and they are considered to be of archival interest. Corporate Governance Committees Listed in the Scheme of Delegation or that report into the Board and major projects Creation Before 20 but as soon as practically possible Transfer to a of Deposit Corporate Governance Committees/ Groups / not listed in the scheme of delegation Creation 6 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Includes minor meetings/projects and departmental business meetings
Corporate Governance Destruction Certificates or Electronic Metadata destruction stub or record of information held on destroyed physical media Destruction of record or information 20 Consider Transfer to a Place of Deposit and if no longer needed to destroy The Public Records Act 1958 limits the holding of records to 20 unless there is an instrument issued by the Minister with responsibility for administering the Public Records Act 1958. If records are not excluded by such an instrument they must either be transferred to a place of deposit as a public record or destroyed 20 years after the record has been closed. Corporate Governance Incidents (serious) Date of Incident 20 Years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Corporate Governance Incidents (not serious) Date of Incident 10 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Corporate Governance Non-Clinical Quality Assurance Records End of year to which the assurance relates 12 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Corporate Governance Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) records Close of financial year 10 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Corporate Governance Policies, strategies and operating procedures including business Creation Life of organisation plus 6 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit
Staff Records & Occupational Health Occupational Health Reports Staff member leaves Keep until 75th birthday or 6 years after the staff member leaves whichever is sooner Review and if no longer needed destroy Staff Records & Occupational Health Occupational Health Report of Staff member under health surveillance Staff member leaves Keep until 75th birthday Review and if no longer needed destroy Staff Records & Occupational Health Occupational Health Report of Staff member under health surveillance where they have been subject to radiation doses Staff member leaves 50 years from the date of the last entry or until 75th birthday, whichever is longer Review and if no longer needed destroy Staff Records & Occupational Health Staff Record Staff member leaves Keep until 75th birthday (see Notes) Create Staff Record Summary then review or destroy the main file. This includes (but is not limited to) evidence of right to work, security checks and recruitment documentation for the successful candidate including job adverts and application forms. May be destroyed 6 years after the staff member leaves or the 75th birthday, whichever is sooner, if a summary has been made.
Staff Records & Occupational Health Staff Record Summary 6 years after the staff member leaves 75th Birthday Place of Deposit should be offered for continued retention or Destroy Please see page 36 for an example of a Staff Record Summary used by an organisation. Staff Records & Occupational Health Timesheets (original record) Creation 2 Review and if no longer needed destroy Records & Occupational Health Training records Creation See Notes Review and consider transfer to a of Deposit Records of significant training must be kept 75th birthday or 6 years after the staff member leaves. It can be difficult to categorise staff training records as significant as this can depend upon the staff member’s role. The IGA recommends: 1 Clinical training records - to be retained until 75th birthday or six years after the staff member leaves, whichever is the longer2 Statutory and mandatory training records - to be kept for ten years after training completed3Other training records - keep for six years after training completed. Procurement Contracts sealed or unsealed End of contract 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Procurement Contracts - financial approval files End of contract 15 years Review and if no longer needed destroy
Procurement Contracts - financial approved suppliers documentation When supplier finishes work 11 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Procurement Tenders (successful) End of contract 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Procurement Tenders (unsuccessful) Award of tender 6 Review and if no longer needed destroy Estates Building plans and records of major building work Completion of work Lifetime of the building or disposal of asset plus six years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Building plans and records of works are potentially of historical interest and where possible be kept and transferred to a place of deposit Estates CCTV See ICO Code of Practice Review and if no longer needed destroy
Estates Equipment monitoring and testing and maintenance work asbestos is a factor Completion of monitoring or test 40 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Estates Equipment monitoring and testing and maintenance work Completion of monitoring or test 10 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Estates Inspection reports End of lifetime of installation Lifetime of installation Review Estates Leases Termination of lease 12 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Estates Minor building works Completion of work retain for 6 Review and if no longer needed destroy
Finance Benefactions End of financial year 8 years Review and consider transfer to Place of Deposit These may already be in the financial accounts and may be captured in other records/reports or committee papers. Where benefactions endowment trust fund/legacies - permanent retention. Finance Debtor records cleared of financial year 2 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Debtor records not cleared Close of financial year 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Donations of financial year 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Expenses of financial year 6 Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Final annual accounts report Creation Before 20 years Transfer to place of deposit if not transferred with the board papers Should be transferred to a of deposit as soon as practically possible Finance Financial records of transactions End of financial year 6 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy
Finance Petty cash End of financial year 2 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Private Finance initiative (PFI) files End of PFI Lifetime of PFI Review and consider transfer to Place of Deposit Finance Salaries paid to staff Close of financial year 10 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Finance Superannuation records Close of financial year 10 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Legal, Complaints & information Rights Complaints case file Closure of incident (see Notes) 10 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Legal, Complaints & information Rights Fraud case files Case closure 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy
Legal, Complaints & information Rights Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and responses and any associated correspondence Closure of FOI request 3 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Where redactions have been made it is important to keep a copy of the redacted disclosed documents or if not practical to keep a summary of the redactions. Complaints & information Rights FOI requests where there has been a subsequent appeal Closure of appeal 6 years Review and if no longer needed destroy Legal, Complaints & information Rights Industrial relations including tribunal case records Close of financial year 10 Review and consider transfer to a of Deposit Some organisations may record these as part of the staff record but in most cases they will form a distinct separate record either held by the staff member/manager or by the payroll team for processing. Legal, Complaints & information Rights Litigation records Closure of case 10 years Review and consider transfer to a Place of Deposit Legal, Complaints & information Rights Patents / trademarks / copyright / intellectual property- End of lifetime of patent or termination of licence/action Lifetime of patent or 6 from end of licence /action Review and consider transfer to Place of Deposit Legal, Complaints & information Rights Software licences End of lifetime of software Lifetime of software Review and if no longer needed destroy
Legal, Complaints & information Rights Subject Access Requests (SAR) and disclosure correspondence Closure of SAR 3 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy Complaints & information Rights Subject access requests there has been a subsequent appeal Closure of appeal 6 Years Review and if no longer needed destroy