NHS Staff

Procedure for Transfer of Records to LHSA

1. LHSA staff do not undertake records management on behalf of NHS Lothian departments. However, they can advise about the applicability of the Scottish Government Records Management: NHS Code of Practice (Scotland) Version 2.1 (2012) to particular record items, series and collections if required.

2. LHSA is unable to act as a storage facility for current or semi-current records (i.e. those that are occasionally consulted by NHS Lothian staff).

3. No record can be transferred to LHSA without prior agreement by the Archivist.

4. LHSA collects non-current NHS records that must be permanently preserved. These are records that have been retained for the required period and for which there are no legal, operational or evidential reasons for keeping them for longer.

5. All transfer arrangements must be agreed in advance with the LHSA Archivist, who will advise about the required paperwork and removal to LHSA. Please contact:

LHSA Archivist
Lothian Health Services Archive
Edinburgh University Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ

0131 650 3392
lhsa@ed.ac.uk

6. LHSA recommends that Lothian NHS staff responsible for records management in their areas undertake an annual review.

7. Please contact the LHSA Archivist:

(i) for any records dated 1948 or earlier

(ii) for non-current records that must be permanently preserved.

(iii) for non-current records that do not have to be permanently preserved but are "likely to have permanent research and historical value".

Some personal health records fall into (iii). These will be assessed in accordance with LHSA holdings, the views of relevant NHS clinical staff and available storage. Sampling will also be considered as an option for extensive series of folder-based case notes that fall into this category.