Good record keeping is important – and that’s for all records relating to staff, families and volunteers. It helps to maximise the safety and quality of support for volunteers and families and meets legal requirements.
What's a record?
A record can be anything from an email to meeting minutes, video recordings to daily record sheets.
Specific examples of records include:
- Family Support Record (ongoing chronological record of support provided)
- Antenatal and Postnatal Booklets (volunteer record of support provided)
- Volunteer Support Records (ongoing chronological record of all elements of personal development and other support provided to the volunteer)
- Supervision Records (volunteer’s reflection on the support of the family, areas discussed, and any agreed actions).
Examples of these records and others can be found here.
What’s the best way to store them?
All volunteer and family information must be physically secure and confidential at all times. Find out further information in example record keeping policy and procedures which is downloadable below.
Example record keeping policy and procedures
Added 03/02/2020Please sign in to download this file.
It is essential that all staff and volunteers accurately record actions, decisions and key conversations about volunteer and family support so that the organisation fulfils its legal responsibilities, including under the Data Protection Act 2018. Read more in our Example record keeping policy and procedures.
The Data Protection Act 2018 describes how organisations must collect, handle and store personal information. To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.
Access to a volunteer or family’s records and the information contained in them must only be for an appropriate reason and by appropriate staff. Such information should only be released, even to someone within the organisation, with the consent of the volunteer/parent (unless there is a significant risk to a child or vulnerable adult).
Records may be used for research, training purposes and supervision. The principles of access and confidentiality remain the same, and the volunteer / family has the right to refuse access to their records.
- Provide appropriate training to staff and volunteers (including all staff having mandatory training in their first year of employment)
- Reflect high standards of guidance and supervision for volunteers
- Monitor, evaluate and improve standards of records (including auditing record keeping standards annually)
- Meet legal requirements (e.g. Data Protection Act, parents’ rights to access their records).
Good record keeping is a key part of safeguarding. All information about families and children is confidential except when the need to protect the health and welfare of the parent or child (or another person) overrides their right to confidentiality.
It must be made clear to families from the outset that:
- Progress of support to a family will normally be discussed by their volunteer and their volunteer’s supervisor
- If there is serious cause for concern, their right to confidentiality is overridden (the supervisor will be informed immediately and they will take appropriate action).
Parents should be asked to sign an agreement that confirms their understanding of this. An example can be found in our example Initial information form (mum to be), downloadable below, please see pages 17-18.
When safeguarding issues arise, they should be clearly recorded within 24 hours, identifying action taken, action points with timescales which will be regularly reviewed. A chronology of incidents of concern should be logged by highlighting them in the record keeping process.
Information must be shared in line with the government’s Information Sharing Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners.
Example initial information form (mum to be)
Added 03/02/2020Please sign in to download this file.