The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7237 p284
22 February 2003

Society summary

Society calls for access by pharmacists to medical records

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has told the NHS Information Authority that pharmacists should be able to access patients' medical records and also contribute to them.

In its response to the Information Authority's consultation on patient privacy, the Society argues that pharmacists' exclusion from future arrangements for shared patient records would be contrary to Government policies on developing clinical roles for pharmacists in all sectors.

The response explains that confidentiality is a requirement of the profession's Code of Ethics. The Society has never had to take disciplinary proceedings against a pharmacist for disclosing information from pharmacy-held patient medication record (PMR) systems. This indicates that pharmacists understand confidentiality requirements and can be trusted to participate in future arrangements for shared patient records.

The response goes on to explain that pharmacists' own PMR systems have severe limitations. They do not provide information on diagnosis or the reason for prescribing a particular medicine. They are not likely to contain information on the patient's medical history, current medical condition, allergies and previous adverse reactions or a full history of medicines prescribed for the patient. Furthermore, because the patient is free to use any pharmacy, the pharmacist is likely to have only a partial record of the medicines supplied. These factors limit the pharmacist's ability to assess whether a prescribed medicine is safe and appropriate for the patient and to help the patient manage the medical conditions,

Explaining why community pharmacists should be able to contribute information to the shared patient record, the Society says that, as pharmacists take up new roles with a greater clinical dimension, they will increasingly generate information that needs to be shared with other health care professionals involved in the patient's care.

The Society's head of policy development, Eileen Neilson, said: "Pharmacists need patient information to perform their current roles, and this will become increasingly important as the new and extended roles envisaged for the profession are developed. The current situation limits the ability of pharmacists to carry out their professional role of assessing whether the medicines prescribed are safe and appropriate for the patient. In their new clinical roles, pharmacists will also be generating information that will need to be recorded and shared with other health care professionals involved in the care of those patients.

"What is needed is accurate, up-to-date, structured information, at an appropriate level of detail, on key areas that pharmacists need to do their job. There is much work to do to develop the new records. Like all other health care practitioners who will use the new records, pharmacists and their support staff will require additional training, guidance and support to take on the new roles and responsibilities involved."

The Society's full response is available from the policy section of the Society's website.