Artworks and clinical notes disposal
Artworks
Images left by clients after art therapy ends do not need to be stored or kept by the art therapist or the organisation.
This is because images produced in art therapy do not have a definite and fixed meaning and cannot be an admissible item of evidence in court.
When the art therapy ends, the artworks that clients do not wish to keep themselves can be disposed of in the same way as any confidential material (shredding, etc).
Clinical notes
If you are employed by the NHS, there will be guidelines on how long you need to keep clinical notes.
If self-employed or working privately, you will need to keep clinical notes for up to six years as this is the timeframe within which someone can take legal action against their therapist after therapy has ended. However, this time limit is extended for children to six years after their eighteenth birthday or for people who have no capacity to take an action within the timeframe (severe mental health problems, etc).
If evidence is convincing, the court may allow a case to proceed even after the deadline has elapsed as it has discretion to do so.
A note on professional indemnity insurance
Your professional indemnity insurance will not work retrospectively. This means if you are no longer insured, being insured at the time of the complaint will not be valid.
Therefore, we have arranged a special rate for our retired members of a one-off fee with Howden to ensure that active professional indemnity insurance is maintained during the time that complaints can be made. This will only be available if you are insured with Howden at the time of retiring and is not available as ‘stand-alone’ policy.