Users say summary care record is “too complex”
NHS CfH criticised
The Government’s Connecting for Health team was criticised
by the researchers for focusing too much on the technology of the
initiative, rather than looking at the wider picture and the benefits
it could bring patients.
The report says: “A shift to a more socio-technical perspective
would change the SCR programme considerably … it would no longer
be seen as an end in itself (with ‘success’ measured
in terms of number of records created and extent of use) but as a
means to other ends (with success being defined in terms of a range
of locally relevant ends).” |
An independent evaluation of the patient summary care record (SCR) has reached mixed conclusions, according to its report published this week.
(PDF 2.1MB)
A team from University College London accepted at the end of a year-long
study that having an SCR — a summary of a patient’s key medical
details such as medication, allergies and known adverse reactions — on
a central national electronic database was a particular advantage in
emergency or unscheduled care settings.
It would also be useful in cases
where patients did not have English as their first language, were unconscious
or confused about their medical details.
Although the researchers reported that many staff in the four SCR early
adopter sites studied were enthusiastic about the initiative, a significant
number of GPs had refused to participate in the project because they
were concerned about the quality of the data.
Other staff complained that the system was “clunky” and “too
complex”, and some said they had given up using the SCR “until
it works better”, they found.
Patients’ attitudes to their record varied according to their medical
condition and were influenced by their personal trust and confidence
in their primary health care team, says the report.
Most patients, especially those with a potentially stigmatising illness
such as mental ill health or HIV, while supporting the idea of an SCR,
were equally keen to control who had access to the information.
Gillian Braunold, clinical director of the summary care record and HealthSpace
programme, said following publication of the report: “We set up
the early adopter programme to ensure that problems, issues and practicalities
of implementation were tested out in real-life healthcare situations
in a controlled and safe environment.
“The report offers the programme the foundations on which to base
the necessary planning for improvement in design and implementation before
national roll out.”
In response to the evaluation, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society Hemant Patel said: “The widespread adoption of SCRs will
assist our vision to make Britain the safest place to receive medicines.”
He added that pharmacists’ access to records will benefit patients
and enhance joint working with GPs.
“[Pharmacist access] should also … help the Government meet
its target of reducing by 40 per cent the number of serious errors in
the use of
prescribed drugs as well as helping reduce the human and financial cost
of prescribing errors,” he said. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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