Reviews
commissioned by the Health Minister Simon Burns have concluded
that a Summary Care Record containing core patient information
will prove valuable for patients needing emergency care, the
Department of Health announced today.
The Summary Care Record will only contain a patient's
demographic details, medications, allergies and adverse reactions,
information that may make all the difference to ensuring safe
treatment when a patient needs emergency or unplanned
care.
Safeguards for patients include requesting their
permission to view the record at the point of healthcare.
Patients have a right to opt out of having a Summary Care Record
and in future, all patients contacted by letter informing them
that a record will be created, will have an opt out form and
pre-paid envelope included.
For those patients already written to, there will be awareness
raising campaigns at local, regional and national levels to ensure
they realise that a Summary Care Record is being created for them,
unless they choose to opt out.
A review, led by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, involved leading
patient representatives and clinicians and agreed that when
patients require treatment in an emergency or out of hours
clinicians should have access to the essential medical information
they need to support safe treatment. There needs to be a clearly
defined minimal scope of the Summary Care Record, with additional
information only added following the explicit consent of the
patient.
A review, led by Joan Saddler, Director of Patient and Public
Affairs, into how patients are communicated with, agreed that the
letter needs simplifying and an opt out form should be included.
While agreeing that it would be a waste of public money to write
again to the 30 million patients already contacted, it was
recognised that efforts should be made at local, regional and
national level to reinforce to patients that they have a choice
not to have a Summary Care Record.
Health Minister, Simon Burns, said:
"I am pleased that a consensus has emerged about the
importance of the SCR in supporting safe patient care, as long as
the core information contained in it is restricted to medication,
allergies and adverse reactions. Coupled with improvements to
communication with patients which reinforce their right to opt
out, we believe this draws a line under the controversies that the
SCR has generated up to now. We see this review as having taken a
significant step towards the goal of patients owning their records
and using them to share decision-making with healthcare professionals."
Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, said:
"In an advanced national health care system it is
reasonable for citizens to expect that when they arrive in
Accident & Emergency or require treatment out of hours
that clinicians treating them have access to enough basic medical
information to prevent anyone making wrong or even dangerous decisions."
Joan Saddler, OBE, Director of Patient and Public Affairs, said:
"If we really want patients at the heart of care, the
availability of core,personal and medical information when
patients need care is essential.They must also be given clear and
simple information about the Summary Care Record and the choices
available to them. It should be easy for patients to opt out of
the Summary Care Record and they must be supported in the
decisions they take. Including the opt out form in patient letters
reinforces our commitment to their right to choose not to have an
SCR. Patients must be the ones who decide if any additional
information should be included in their SCR, supported by
appropriate professionals. This is the only way we will build
trust in the SCR and its use."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1) 3
million Summary Care Records have been created.
2) A number of regional case studies are available which include
patient, nurse or doctor views on the SCR.
3) We continue to work with the DfE to improve information
sharing and protocols between health professionals and
children's services departments around the issue of child
protection where there may be causes for concern about the welfare
of a child who comes into contact with health services.
4) The following organizations have endorsed the value of the
Summary Care Record:
Kieran Mullan, from the Patients Association said:
"The Summary Care Record has the potential to offer
great benefits for patients by making key information available to
clinicians treating patients in emergencies. It is also right that
other useful information such as end of life care plans can be
added to the record, but that this only happens at the explicit
request of the patient.
"Our helpline has heard from
patients who have been unhappy with aspects of the roll out of the
record, which makes it vital that information and choice is
maximised in the future. We support the inclusion of an opt-out
form in the information pack sent to patients and the extra
safeguard of clinicians checking that a patient is happy to have a
Summary Care Record before it is used for the first
time."
A spokesman for the Royal College of Nursing said:
"The RCN supports the findings of the review of the
Summary Care Record and we welcome in particular:
* The clear purpose and scope for the first phase of content,
focused on important information for decision making in emergency
care situations.
* The inclusion of opportunity for patients to add important
facts that they would want a clinician to know in an emergency.
* The agreement of the need for training and support for
frontline staff regarding the uses and benefits of the SCR."
Dr Julia Riley, Head of the Department of Palliative Medicine at
The Royal Marsden and Royal Brompton NHS Trusts in London, said:
"I am delighted that the Summary Care Record, when
rolled out, will be available to help patients to die in their
preferred place. Patients are currently being consented to share
their clinical care plan and preferences on a local electronic
register. There are benefits to be derived from the use of a
nationally shared record. The enhanced functionality of a national
Summary Care Record will give it a keen edge over the local
registers currently available."
Neil Churchill, CEO of Asthma UK, said:
"Summary care records are a vital step forward in
delivering safe and effective patient care. As a consenting
patient with a long-term condition, I expect my medical details to
be available wherever they are needed, which will ensure my safety
in emergencies and improve consistency and quality of care
whichever part of the NHS I deal with. My inches-thick
hand-written file needs to be firmly consigned to Dr
Finlay's casebook, where it belongs."
Steve Jenkin, health and social care director at Sue Ryder Care,
said:
"Sue Ryder Care welcomes the introduction of Summary
Care Records as a means of improving communication between
healthcare providers and to support delivery of informed and
quality care.
"As a voluntary provider of health and social care,
we're currently investigating the viability and cost
implications of connecting all our hospices and community-based
end of life care services to the NHS spine. Summary Care Records
would enable our care services to have immediate access to NHS
patient information which would support our staff in providing
personalised quality care."
John Heyworth, President of The College of Emergency Medicine, said:
"The College of Emergency Medicine welcomes the decision
to proceed with the Summary Care Record. Clinicians working in
Emergency Departments are currently often deprived of key
background patient information, particularly during the initial
phase of time critical treatment, and this may significantly
compromise the quality and safety of care provided.
"Immediate access to such records will lead to
better and safer care for our emergency patients."
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk