[holding answer 17 January 2008]: The national health service information governance toolkit, established in 2003, is a web-based resource developed by the Department, which enables NHS organisations to measure their compliance with a range of information governance requirements and best practice, including standards in records management. In this respect it is underpinned by the Department’s best practice guidance—“Records Management: NHS Code of Practice”, published in April 2006, and supports the Healthcare Commission’s NHS Standards for Better Health, many of which require quality and integrity of record-keeping systems.
Those bodies responsible for external monitoring of NHS performance, for example strategic health authorities and the Healthcare Commission, play a key role in ensuring that effective systems are in place to ensure conformity with the relevant requirements and standards.