PM supports pharmacy access to patient records
The first of the Government's policy review documents, published
this week |
Support for pharmacists to have access to electronic patient records was given by the Prime Minister in a policy review document released this week. “Building
on progress: public services”, the
first of six policy review documents to be published, looks at how
public services in Britain, including those for health care, can be
made more responsive to public need.
Highlighted in the document is pharmacy’s ability to provide a
range of health care services. “For example,” the document
says, “high street pharmacies could be used to offer a range of
basic diagnostic services on behalf of primary care trusts. Such services
could be more convenient — located on the high street and accessible
at a wide range of times — and better able to reach certain groups
(such as teenagers) than traditional GP services. Pharmacies would be
able to establish an individual’s eligibility for tests and to
record the results using the newly introduced electronic patient records.”
David Pruce, director of practice and quality improvement at the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society, responded to the new report: “I am delighted
to see that the Prime Minister and his Cabinet have recognised through
these policy reviews that pharmacists are ideally located in the heart
of communities and are able to reach those parts of society unlikely
to use GP services.”
Gareth Jones, NHS liaison manager, National Pharmacy Association, commented: “This
endorsement for diagnostic testing in community pharmacies from the highest
level of Government should be warmly welcomed. Pharmacy-based diagnostic
testing improves patient choice and access to services for hard-to-reach
groups, and is a platform on which pharmacies can develop other patient-focused
services.”
He went on: “It is also significant to note the Government’s
assumptions that pharmacists will have write-access to Connecting for
Health — this is important for
improving patient safety, developing new pharmacy-based services and
ensuring continuity of care.”
Mr Pruce supports the notion: “The use of electronic patient records
will be key to helping ensure that there is co-ordinated care across
GP surgeries, community pharmacies and hospitals.”
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
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