§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospital files holding clinical data on patients(a) went missing temporarily and (b) were lost in each year since 1995. [127186]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe information requested is not available. The Department of Health does not monitor or gather statistics on the management of clinical records in National Health Service hospitals and trusts and consequently has no record of numbers of files temporarily missing or lost.
Each NHS trust and strategic health authority is legally responsible for managing its own records and complying with legislation and guidance relating to the clinical data they collect on patients.
In the NHS, guidance and governance arrangements have been designed to assure compliance with law and good practice, while minimising the overheads of managing and auditing detailed procedures. Independent authorities, such as the Audit Commission, Health Service Commissioner and Information Commissioner, oversee the governance arrangements and may impose sanctions where there is a significant failure to comply.