Quicker access to the Summary Care Record for community pharmacies

18 Jun 2019 01:43 PM

Pharmacists can now access vital patient information quickly and simply through a new Summary Care Record (SCR) 1-click function.

The 1-click function allows pharmacy professionals logged in on their Smartcard to click straight through to a selected patient’s SCR, without having to log in separately and complete a manual search.

This is expected to save time over the course of a day, making access to SCR an integral part of providing pharmacy services, such as medicine use reviews, the new medicines service, administering vaccinations and emergency supply.

Tahmina Rokib Pharmacist and Clinical Lead for Digital Medicines & Pharmacy at NHS Digital yesterday said:

“SCR 1-click will allow pharmacists quicker access to critical information when carrying out community pharmacy advanced services. This is a great first step to integrating core clinical tools into systems to make things more efficient for busy health care professionals.

“It would be great to see integration of SCR and other digital tools by more system suppliers in the future so that clinicians can fully reap the benefits.

“Improved access to SCR will support pharmacists to provide better and safer care for patients through more informed decision making due to quicker access to information.”

The new functionality is live across Sonar and Pinnacle advanced services systems1

Pharmacies can access the Summary Care Record to:

Having access to a patient’s Summary Care Record speeds up care and reduces the need for phone calls to GP practices, delays to care and the need for referrals to other services, particularly out-of-hours.

Notes to editors

  1. Certain systems from Sonar and Pinnacle are eligible for the new functionality.  Pharmacies using these systems should contact their supplier directly for more information.
  2. We worked with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society last year to endorse updated guidance on SCR, developed to support pharmacies in understanding how SCR can be used and also help dispel myths and misconceptions surrounding SCR. 
  3. SCR contains, at a minimum, information about a patient’s medicines, allergies and adverse reactions. Patients can also choose to add additional information to their SCR such as information about long-term conditions or medical history.

NHS Digital is the national information and technology partner of the health and care system.  Our team of information analysis, technology and project management experts create, deliver and manage the crucial digital systems, services, products and standards upon which health and care professionals depend.  During the 2018/19 financial year, NHS Digital published 287 statistical reports. Our vision is to harness the power of information and technology to make health and care better.

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