Questions have been raised about the storage of TOP criminal justice questions on NHS clinical data systems (because of the length of time that the information is retained on record). To ensure that information was being collected appropriately, representatives of the NTA and the Department of Health substance misuse team met with the DH Digital Policy Unit. The jointly agreed minutes of this meeting are available here.

It was agreed, in line with the NTA’s Care Planning Practice Guide that the monitoring of criminal justice outcomes is a legitimate clinical issue. As with all data recorded through NDTMS, every client is free to decline to answer a question and the clinician must make a judgment if asking a question may be detrimental to the therapeutic relationship. An example of the guidance on confidentiality and NDTMS (which are held by all 9 of the regional NDTMS teams) can be accessed here.