Every physiotherapy appointment generates a clinical record. Under the HCPC Standards of proficiency for physiotherapists and the CSP record-keeping guidance, those records must be full, clear, accurate, and retained for the periods set out in the NHS Records Management Code of Practice (8 years after last contact for adults; to the 25th birthday or 26th if the young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment for children). Health data is special category data under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Poor record keeping is one of the most common reasons physiotherapists are referred to the HCPC. This article sets out the concrete requirements and what software needs to do to support them without forcing extra work.
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The HCPC Standards of proficiency for physiotherapists and the Standards of conduct, performance and ethics require full, clear and accurate records. Poor record keeping is one of the most common reasons for referral to the HCPC. The CSP record-keeping guidance (PD061) reinforces this: physiotherapy staff have a professional and legal obligation to keep an accurate record of their interactions with patients. Records are legal documents and may be the only robust defence against a claim.
Records can be paper or electronic (or a mixture). The system your employer or practice specifies is the one you must use. The purpose is to allow a third party to make a judgment based on the content. Key principles include contemporaneous entry, legibility (or clear electronic formatting), patient identification, assessment findings, treatments, consent, and any other information relevant to the patient's health status and management.
Health data is special category data under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Clinics holding patient health records must pay the ICO data protection fee and have appropriate policies for security, access, and retention.
The NHS Records Management Code of Practice 2021 (England) sets the minimum retention periods that are widely used as best practice:
Electronic systems must preserve the audit trail for the retention period of the record. When records are destroyed or deleted at the end of the retention period, it must be done securely and documented.
Speak to us about physiotherapy software · +44 7494 618 651 · Mon to Fri, 9am to 6pm
A UK-developed PIMS with a heritage stretching back decades. Merlin offers client and patient management, appointment scheduling, invoicing, stock control, and integration with major UK lab services and pharmaceutical suppliers. It is familiar to many UK vets and has a well-established support team.
Merlin has a more traditional interface than the newer cloud platforms, which some practices prefer for speed and others find dated. Best suited to single-site or small multi-site practices wanting established UK support.
A comprehensive UK PIMS now under the Covetrus umbrella. RoboVet handles scheduling, clinical records, billing, pharmaceutical supplier integration, and stock management. Its strength is in dispensing workflows and pharmaceutical management, which reflects Covetrus's supply chain background.
The Covetrus acquisition brings vendor consolidation concerns similar to those in other verticals (IDEXX in vet software, TELUS in farm software). Best suited to practices that value strong dispensing and supply chain integration.
A cloud-based UK PIMS focused on simplicity and mobile accessibility. VetIT offers appointment scheduling, billing, stock control, and client engagement features, with a mobile app that works offline for house calls and farm visits. The interface is cleaner and simpler than ezyVet or RoboVet.
Best suited to independent practices and ambulatory/mixed practices that need mobile functionality without enterprise complexity.
The newest entrant, built by veterinarians with an AI-first approach. Shepherd focuses on reducing administrative burden through automation: AI-assisted clinical notes, automated reminders, and streamlined workflows. It is cloud-based with a modern, clean interface.
Best suited to practices that want to reduce vet burnout through automation and are comfortable with a newer platform that is still building its feature set.
A system that supports HCPC and CSP record-keeping needs to make the right thing the easy thing:
Most off-the-shelf systems support basic notes and some audit. The depth of the audit trail, the flexibility of templates versus enforced fields, the handling of retention and deletion, and the ease of producing a complete, defensible record for an HCPC audit or legal request are where the differences appear.
A bespoke system can have the exact templates, body charts, outcome measures, consent flows and reporting your clinic uses built in from the start. Compliance (audit trail, retention logic, access controls) is in the data architecture, not a checklist maintained separately. You own the code, so if a regulator or commissioner changes a requirement, you can adapt without waiting for a vendor roadmap or paying extra per user.
If you want to see what a system built around these requirements actually looks like, ESRE's live physiotherapy demo opens without a login. Sign in as a physio and complete a note with exercise plan and consent capture, or as owner and review the audit and reporting views. See the physiotherapy software hub for the demo and more.
Speak to us about physiotherapy software · +44 7494 618 651 · Mon to Fri, 9am to 6pm