Storage and access to records

1. 58. You should store information or records from other organisations, such as minutes from child protection conferences, with the child’s or young person’s medical record, or make sure that this information will be available to clinicians who may take over the care of the child or young person. If you provide care for several family members, you should include information about family relationships in their medical records, or links between the records of a child or young person and their parents, siblings or other people they have close contact with.
2. 59. Patients, including children and young people, have a legal right to see their own medical records unless this would be likely to cause serious harm to their physical or mental health or to that of someone else. A parent may see their child’s medical records if the child or young person gives their consent, or does not have the capacity to give consent, and it does not go against the child’s best interests. For more advice, see paragraphs 53–55 of 0–18 years: guidance for all doctors.⁵
3. 60. If you are responsible for storing and disposing of medical records, you must make sure this is done in line with official guidance on managing records, including the retention schedules published by the UK health departments. This applies whether or not you work in the National Health Service (NHS).^*