Record Keeping Quick Guide

At Handcrafted, maintaining accurate and consistent records is essential for safeguarding trainees, communicating effectively with the team, collecting important data, and demonstrating our compliance with legal and organisational standards. Follow this guidance to ensure your records are clear, factual, and useful.

Trainee notes are there to support the safety and well-being of all trainees by documenting relevant information. They keep the team informed about trainee progress, challenges, and key events. Additionally, they gather data to track outcomes and improve service delivery and enable us to demonstrate to authorities and stakeholders that Handcrafted is fulfilling its aims.

Key Principles for Record Keeping

Timeliness: Write your notes as soon as possible while the details are fresh in your memory.
Date and Time Stamping: Clearly date and time-stamp your notes. If you are recording an event from a previous day, make sure the correct date is indicated.
Identification: If you are entering a note on behalf of another team member, clearly state who the information is from.
Completeness: Provide all necessary information. If you cannot complete an entry immediately, save it elsewhere and paste it in when it is complete.

Writing Guidelines

Accuracy: Ensure all details (names, times, dates, etc.) are correct to the best of your knowledge.
Clarity: Use plain English that everyone, including the trainee, can understand. Avoid abbreviations, jargon, or slang unless quoting directly.
Factuality: Stick to the facts. Record only what happened, without adding opinions, assumptions, or guesswork. Use phrases like “I heard,” “I saw,” or “I felt” to describe your observations.

Recording Information

Quotations: Use quotation marks when documenting what someone said. For example, "he/she said/stated/reported."
Opinions: If you must include an opinion, clearly state whose opinion it is. Opinions should be recorded only when necessary and relevant.
Evidence: Avoid vague expressions like "had a good day." Instead, explain why, with specific examples or evidence.
Respect and Objectivity: Be respectful in your writing. Avoid judgments or personal comments. Trainees may read these records in the future.
Anonymity: Anonymise any individuals other than the subject of the note, unless necessary for context.

Rationale for Decisions

Decision-Making: When recording decisions, provide a clear rationale for why the decision was made and list the individuals involved in the decision-making process.