Why Long-term Preservation is the Missing Piece in Your NHS Digital Ecosystem

The NHS is in the midst of a major digital transformation. Paper-based records, once filling filing cabinets and archives across hospitals, clinics, and research units are rapidly being replaced with digital systems. From electronic patient records to digital trial platforms, this shift is modernising workflows, improving accessibility, and reducing administrative burden.

Live systems are transforming how clinical trials are run, enabling real-time management of trial documentation, remote site monitoring, and streamlined communication across investigator teams.

But there’s a challenge, what happens to all that critical data once the trial ends?

The Challenge: From Live Management to Long-Term Data Management

Live platforms such as Florence Health excel at active trial management. They give investigators, sponsors, and clinical staff the tools they need to coordinate in real time, whether that’s managing participant records or ensuring Investigator Site Files (ISFs) are complete and audit-ready.

However, once a trial closes, the regulatory responsibility doesn’t end. GCP (Good Clinical Practice) guidelines, MHRA requirements, and international regulations such as EU CTR all demand that Investigator Site Files and their complete audit trails be securely preserved for 25 years or longer in some cases after study completion.

This is where a different type of system becomes essential.

The Next Step That Completes the Picture

Imagine you’ve completed a multi-centre clinical trial. The ISFs are complete, investigator agreements, consent forms, delegation logs, monitoring visit reports, and correspondence all neatly stored in your live trial management platform.

But in five or ten years, that platform may have evolved, merged, or retired certain features. The regulatory requirement will still stand: you must be able to produce exactly the same ISF, with its full audit trail, on demand.

By transferring these files into a preservation system at the end of the trial:

• You eliminate dependency on the original live platform’s long-term viability.
• Retrieval in the event of an MHRA inspection is fast and compliant, even decades later.

A preservation solution has specific and unique capabilities to ensure data accessible and usable for the long term.

• It safeguards files against bit rot
• It preserves to overcome format obsolescence
• It has the necessary features to reduce the chance of accidental loss

Complementary, Not Competitive

Preservation platforms do not replace the tools that you use every day, it extends their value. Your live systems handle the “now,” preservation platforms protects the “forever.” This next step approach ensures NHS trusts, research units, and CROs can meet both operational and regulatory demands without compromise.

In today’s world, where compliance and trust are essential, pairing live trial management tools with long-term preservation platforms ensures end-to-end protection and accessibility for your clinical trial data.