Profession risks isolation from NHS if views on electronic records
are not heard, says CCA
The absence of pharmacy representation in forums discussing the NHS summary care record could lead to isolation of the profession, the Company Chemists Association has warned. It adds that unless full read-and-write access is granted to pharmacists, patient safety may be compromised.
The warnings come in response to a request from the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society for opinion on the electronic patient record to help inform its
discussions with the NHS Summary Care Record Taskforce. The taskforce
was established earlier this year — without pharmacy representation — to
aid the introduction of the first phase of the NHS
Care Records Service (PJ, 5 August, p152).
The CCA argues that other health care professionals do not necessarily
understand the agenda for pharmacy nor appreciate the potential for redesigning
services within the new community pharmacy contract to provide improved
access for patients. Independent and supplementary prescribing, diagnostic
testing and management of long-term conditions will require timely access
to accurate information shared between all members of the primary and
secondary care teams, it says. The organisation highlights that pharmacies
are open out of hours and says that accessing information by any other
method would be impractical and negate much of the benefit of pharmacy’s
unique position in primary care.
The summary care record should include, as a minimum, details of a patient’s
condition, medication history, diagnostic test results and any known
allergies, says the CCA. |
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