When a training record cannot be found, start by checking how it arrived and where it should have been recorded. These five checks can help a training coordinator locate evidence without assuming it has been lost.

Five checks

1. Check the intended folder and register. A saved file may have no corresponding register entry, or the entry may point to an older location.
2. Confirm that the destination exists. A planned folder may never have been created, leaving the file beside the work that produced it.
3. Trace the event or cohort. Use the date, course or learner record to identify the original booking, training or assessment process.
4. Check authorised holding areas. Scans, downloads and material awaiting filing may still be in an agreed intake location.
5. Check the relevant system or account. The evidence may remain in a learning or booking system. Use the organisation’s authorised access and privacy process.

Reconnect the evidence

When you find the record, confirm the named person, date, programme and what the document actually evidences. Preserve the original and update the existing register with its location and any relevant version information. Avoid creating another untracked copy.

Keep completion and competency separate

A course-completion record and a workplace competency decision answer different questions. Local sign-off remains with the employer, supervisor or clinical organisation. If evidence remains unavailable, record the gap and refer it to the responsible owner rather than reconstructing a result from memory.

Source note: VeinTrain’s controlled missing-training-record draft, 5 August 2026. The checklist describes a record-recovery process; it does not guarantee that a missing record will be found.

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