Knowing how to keep accurate records

The previous chapters in this book have been written to support your role, providing you with new information about your role and building a picture of what we consider is good support worker practice. This and subsequent chapters deal with more pragmatic issues in your practice, things that you can do to ensure that your client gets the best care and support and you feel rewarded by the work that you do. This chapter is written specifically to remind you about your duty to record, write, maintain and keep safe your client records. Although there is a clear requirement in law for you to do so (see Chapter 4), there are other aspects of record keeping that are good practice, such as communicating with colleagues or providing a written narrative history about a person being cared for.