13 Jul 2026Clinical letterDocument preserved
For Irish consultants closing a private practice
You cared for your patients. We’ll look after their records.
A secure, lawful way to close your practice without leaving patient records—or the responsibility for them—hanging over you.
Patient
Sample record
Read-only
- Last event
- 13 Jul 2026
- Retention
- 8 years
- Documents
- 24 files
21 Jun 2026AppointmentTimeline event
27 Feb 2026Medical historyRecord preserved
Three decades in clinical record-handling
GDPR requests handled with you
Certificate of lawful destruction
The obligation continues
Closing the practice doesn’t close the record.
Patient records can be needed years after retirement. They still have to be secure, retrievable, and handled lawfully.
- A patient submits a GDPR Data Subject Access Request.
- A medico-legal claim or insurer investigation opens.
- A treating doctor needs access to an older clinical history.
- The retention period ends and destruction must be evidenced.
A managed archive, not another system to run
Patient records shouldn’t be the worry that follows you into retirement.
cartlann combines secure technology with experienced clinical record-handling. We preserve the record, keep it available, and help manage the requests that arrive later.
A straightforward handover
Three steps, then it’s handled.
We guide the transfer from your current systems into a secure, structured archive.
-
01
Plan the archive
We confirm the systems, record types, retention position, and handover responsibilities.
-
02
Transfer securely
With your authorisation, we extract, organise, validate, and preserve the records.
-
03
Stay supported
Your read-only archive goes live, with our team there for requests and eventual destruction.
See the archive in use
Secure access when a record is needed.
A quick view of the read-only archive experience—from sign-in to the patient timeline.
Archive access
What we manage
The promises we keep.
The archive remains yours. We make the day-to-day obligations practical.
GDPR access requests
We support intake, identity checks, record location, and preparation—then bring you a clear decision.
Records on demand
Retrieve a complete record for a patient, treating doctor, insurer, or medico-legal adviser.
A complete audit trail
Every request, access, document, and decision is recorded so the history stays accountable.
Lawful destruction
When retention ends, records are destroyed through a controlled process with a certificate for your files.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to my patient records when I close or retire from private practice?
You remain responsible for them even after the practice closes — for GDPR requests, medico-legal queries, and eventual lawful destruction. Cartlann handles the day-to-day work of meeting that responsibility: your records move into a secure, read-only archive, and we manage requests and destruction on your behalf. The obligation itself stays with you as data controller.
How long am I required to keep patient records in Ireland?
Retention periods vary — by patient age, record type, and which professional body's guidance applies (Medical Council, Dental Council, and specialty-specific guidance such as fertility treatment can all differ). Given that variation, we don't quote a single figure here.
Am I still the data controller once my records are archived with Cartlann?
Yes. Cartlann acts as processor; you remain the controller. We don't make decisions about your patients' data — access, disclosure, and destruction decisions stay with you, we just carry out the request handling and safeguarding.
Can a patient still request their records after I've retired?
Yes. If a patient submits a Subject Access Request, we handle identity verification, locate the records, and bring you a clear decision to make — you decide what's released, we handle the mechanics.
What if a solicitor, insurer, or treating doctor needs a record for a medico-legal claim?
The archive can produce a complete record for a patient, treating doctor, insurer, or legal adviser on request, with the request and access logged for audit purposes.
What happens when the retention period ends?
Records are destroyed through a controlled process that you authorise, and you receive a certificate of destruction for your files.
Where is my patient data hosted?
In Ireland and the EU.
Do I need to keep any of my old systems running after I retire?
No — that's the point of the archive. Once the handover is complete, you're not responsible for keeping a legacy system live just to access old records.
How long does the handover take?
Typically a few days once we've received the record data from your old systems — the main variable is how quickly that data comes across, not the archive setup itself. If you're not sure how to request that data from your previous system or provider, we can help with that too.
The outcome
Retire with nothing left hanging.
The same care you gave your patients, now extended to their records.
Secure your records
Start with a short note to our team.
Tell us who you are and a little about your practice. We’ll come back to you directly to talk through archive transfer, responsibility, and next steps.
- No obligation
- Direct response from our archive team
- Patient data remains hosted in Ireland and the EU