Medical Records
It is important that the Trust maintains accurate information about service users’ health and social care needs and any treatment which they receive.  There are a number of reasons for holding information including:
· Ensuring that those involved in care have accurate information to assess health and social care needs 
· Information is available to staff working within the Trust if they need to assess needs urgently
· Complaints and concerns can be properly investigated 
· The Trust can evaluate clinical performance and contribute to improvements in clinical services for example through clinical audit:
· Some information may be used for medical purposes other than healthcare for example for research and management.  This will usually be anonymised and this helps in the planning and management of health services.
We hold information in both paper and electronic formats – please see our leaflet called ‘Your Information – What you need to know’ for more information about how we manage information about service users, and how to request further information.