GP online services toolkit

The quality of data in a patient’s record can be assessed by the extent to which it meets the various purposes that the record is used for. For online services this means that it must be clear and unambiguous for the patient to understand, without displaying information that might be harmful to the patient or others or confidential information relating to third-parties.  

Poor data quality may confuse or mislead both patients and clinicians and have a negative impact on the patient’s health care and safety.  

Health and care professionals have a legal duty and professional responsibility to keep health and care records accurate and up to date. However, mistakes in record keeping can occasionally happen. Patients and service users have the right to request for their records to be rectified if they feel inaccurate information is held about them. If you believe that the amendment request concerns health or care information that is factually accurate, you should not amend the record. However, it is good practice to give patients and service users the opportunity to have an entry put into the record to say they do not agree with a particular part and why. See NHS England website for more information.

• Data quality for record access (88 KB DOC) – Guidance on how to create and curate patient records that are ready for patient online access, including how to respond to patient’s comments or complaints on the content of their record.