Recurring concern
Unreliable recording and preservation of safety-relevant telephone calls
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Request correctionFirst reported 20 Apr 2017•Latest report 22 Jul 2024
What this concern includes
Includes failures of controls dedicated to recording, preserving, securely storing, retrieving or making available safety-relevant telephone calls, including calls involving detainees, patients or crisis services, where missing or inaccessible recordings can impair care, investigation or accountability.
Not included
- Excludes generic documentation or records-management deficiencies that are not specifically tied to recording or preserving safety-relevant telephone calls.
- Excludes non-telephone audio, video, radio or CCTV recordings unless the report explicitly links them to the same telephone-call recording process.
- Excludes failures limited to reviewing, interpreting or acting on a recording that was reliably preserved and available.
- Excludes routine telephone calls with no identified safety, care, risk-management or investigative relevance.
- Reports
- 8
- Individual concerns
- 10
- Date range
- 2017–2024
- Stated actions
- 4
Distinct published reports
A report can raise multiple concerns
First to latest report issue date
Described in published responses
Reports over time
Reports over time
Reports about this concern issued each year.
* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.
Most frequent recipients
Most frequent recipients
Reports about this concern sent to each recipient.
Concerns and responses across reports
Only concerns grouped under this recurring concern are included. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.
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Concerns raised2
Limited recording of telephone interactions with patients
Failure to provide accessible telephone call recordings for clinical review
This report raised 2 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Recording all clinical calls is considered disproportionate; recording remains limited to NHS 111 and designated crisis-team lines.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Concerns raised2
Failure to retain recordings of calls for serious patient incident investigations
Failure to preserve recordings of calls between patients and the crisis call handler
This report raised 11 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.3
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Action
Revise the patient-safety screening form to prompt retrieval and preservation of available patient-call recordings for investigations and inquests.
Stated by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Establish consistent, information-governance-compliant retrieval of relevant patient-call recordings by the Patient Safety team.
Stated by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust -
Action
Extend call-recording capability across designated crisis-pathway phone lines, including the identified CRHTT area.
Stated by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
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Concerns raised1
Unavailability of verbatim recording for calls received by officers
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
Specific policing issues are for Greater Manchester Police, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to address.
Stated by Home Office
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Concerns raised1
Failure to document critically important telephone calls regarding patients
This report raised 3 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Failure to record consultant telephone advice
This report raised 19 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
The Trust is responsible for setting out and implementing actions to address the identified maternity-service safety risks.
Stated by Department of Health and Social Care
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Concerns raised1
Inadequate storage of telephone recordings
This report raised 12 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
Actions described in response An action is something a respondent says it has done, is doing, or plans to do in response to the concern raised.1
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Action
Review accounting systems and storage of internal investigation material to identify and rectify weaknesses.
Stated by HM Prison and Probation Service
Respondent positions A position is what a respondent says about the concern when they do not describe a specific action.1
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Position
HMP Winchester had recordings of all telephone calls, although access was restricted because the listening system was encrypted.
Stated by HM Prison and Probation Service
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Concerns raised1
Failure to record telephone calls and advice concerning discharged patients
This report raised 4 other concerns. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
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Concerns raised1
Unavailability of monitoring or recording of telephone calls
This report raised 1 other concern. They are not shown here because they do not form part of this recurring concern.
Responses linked to these concernsEach statement is shown once, even when linked to more than one concern.
No linked response statementsNo respondent-stated action or position is linked to these concerns in the published data.
Data last updated 7 September 2026