Community pharmacies will be familiar with their professional obligations to make records, as appropriate, but often the question remains as to how long to keep pharmacy records.

The Information Governance Alliance which is the authoritative source of advice and guidance about the rules on using and sharing information in health and care has published a document “Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2021“. This sets out standards required for the management of records for organisations who work within, or under contract to the NHS in England.

The NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service which supports medicines optimisation across the NHS has also published a document “Recommendations for Retention of Pharmacy Records” which includes guidance for all pharmacy settings.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (members only) may also have relevant pharmacy-specific resources on the retention of pharmacy records.