How long records are kept

Clinical records have to be kept for a set time. While you’re subscribed, Clinicify holds them for the full retention period on your clinic’s behalf and deletes them only when that period ends. Your clinic is the data controller, so you decide the periods; Clinicify starts you with defaults from the NHS Records Management Code of Practice.

The retention schedule

Owners can see and change the schedule. Open the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar, select Clinic settings, then under Data & privacy select Data & retention.

To change a value, edit it and select Save changes. The allowed ranges are 1–30 years for adults, age 18–30 for children, 30–730 days for operational records and 1–90 days for the undo window.

How the retention date is worked out

• Last treatment is the most recent treatment record, lab report or completed appointment for the patient.
• A patient has clinical records if they have any treatment record, lab report, completed appointment, consent or clinical note.
• If Clinicify doesn’t have the patient’s date of birth, the adult rule applies.

What happens when a record is deleted

Deleting a patient, treatment record or lab report archives it straight away: it disappears from everyday screens, and a deletion date is set.

• With clinical records: the record is kept until the end of the retention period, then permanently deleted. When you delete a patient, Clinicify shows the exact date, for example “they must be kept until 14 August 2033”.
• Without clinical records: it’s permanently deleted after the operational period (90 days by default).
• Created in error: owners can tick Created in error to bypass retention for genuine mistakes, duplicates or test data. It’s permanently deleted after the undo window. See Delete a record created in error.

Until its deletion date, an owner can restore anything from Archived records. Every deletion and restore is recorded in the audit trail.

Inactive patient accounts

A patient account that never became active is removed 90 days after it was created, for example a patient who was invited, or booked online, but never came in. Their record shows Deletion scheduled with the date.

• The countdown stops as soon as the patient has any appointment that isn’t cancelled (including a future booking) or any clinical record. The retention rules above then apply instead.
• Reminder emails: the patient is emailed 30 days before the deletion date and again 10 days before, once each.
• Nobody is deleted without warning. If the first reminder goes out late, the deletion date moves so the patient still gets at least 14 days’ notice.

When your subscription ends

Clinicify holds your records while you’re subscribed. If your subscription or trial ends, your clinic’s data is kept for 90 days and then permanently deleted, with warning emails 14 days and 3 days before. The 90 days is the same for every clinic and isn’t a setting you can change. Export your data before then: after you leave, keeping records for the rest of their retention period is your clinic’s responsibility.

Good to know

• The deletion date is set when a record is deleted. Changing the schedule later doesn’t move dates already set.
• Retention periods are your decision as data controller. The page reminds you of this and shows when it was confirmed.
• Retention settings apply to patient records. Deleting a custom check, a staff compliance record or a governance report is permanent straight away.