Following consultation with clinicians from our customer organisations, we are expanding the ages at which automatic carer removal from paediatric records occurs. This will allow professionals, patients and carers to frequently review children’s abilities to take ownership of and manage their own record at the time that is right for them and to review the appropriateness of parental access to a child’s record.
Previously, PKB software automatically removed carers access to a child’s record when the child reached their 16th birthday, unless one of their clinical team indicated that the carer should retain access.
This month, PKB software will remove a carer’s access on the child’s 13th birthday, again unless that has been overridden by a member of their clinical team. This aligns with the EU General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR) and the UK Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA 2018), these state that children and young adults can assume control over their personal information and restrict access to it from the age of 13.
The system will remove any carers on the patient’s 13th, 16th and 18th birthdays. At each age, the clinical team has the option to override the removal of the carer if that’s in the best interest of the child.
PKB will send an email to patients and their carers 3 months before each birthday informing them that the carer will automatically be lose access. If the patient is ready to manage their own record, they can register for PKB and choose whether or not to re-invite their carer.
The email that carers will receive about the removal has the following text:
Dear Colin,
Jack Smith has reached a milestone!
This message is to remind you that as it’s Jack Smith’s 16th birthday, you have been removed as a carer and no longer have access to their record.
From the age of 13, young people are encouraged to register for their own record. To do this, they will need their own email address.
If Jack hasn’t registered for their own record and has been sent a registration link by email in the past, they can use this to register, otherwise they can request a new invitation.
Once they have registered, they can re-invite you as a carer if they wish.
If you are a parent/ guardian managing this record for a young person with a learning disability or if you have any other concerns, please contact their clinical team for advice.
If the child is not ready or doesn’t have the capacity to manage their own record, a professional or coordinator can override the automatic removal.

This is all part of PKB’s functionality for children. Other features include freezing access to a child’s record for safeguarding, and automatic growth charts for height and weight.
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