Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that providers of occupational health clinical services maintain accurate and contemporaneous records and a reliable audit trail, including the retention of metadata, for the medical information they hold about individuals.

The Department expects all providers of occupational health services to comply with their legal obligations regarding the management, storage, and retention of personal data and medical records, including their responsibilities under United Kingdom data protection legislation and any other relevant statutory or professional requirements.

Responsibility for maintaining accurate and contemporaneous records, and for ensuring appropriate audit arrangements for the information they hold, rests with the individual provider.

The Department does not routinely audit occupational health providers' record-keeping practices, including the retention of metadata, nor does it centrally collect or monitor information on providers' compliance with these requirements.