§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for how long after the death of an individual that individual's medical records are kept; whether an individual's medical records are kept for a different length of time if they die from new variant CJD; and if he will make a statement. [124088]
§ Yvette CooperThe Department issued guidance to healthcare organisations in 1998 and 1999 (Health Service Circulars 1999/053 and 1998/217), which advised that hospital medical records for deceased patients should be kept for a minimum of eight years and similar records held by general practitioners for a minimum of 10 years. Such records are often retained for a longer period of time in certain cases such as maternity and mental illness.
The National CJD Surveillance Unit collates detailed information on patients who have had CJD of any type, including copies of medical records wherever possible. It is expected that this information will be held by the unit for the foreseeable future.