A new function has been added to the NHS Summary Care Record (SCR) to give pharmacists quicker access to details on an individual patient.
NHS Digital has announced the development of the SCR 1-click function that enables pharmacists logged in on their smart card to click straight through to a selected patient’s SCR, without having to log in separately and complete a manual search.
It said this is expected to save time over the course of a day, making access to SCR an integral part of providing pharmacy services, such as medicine use reviews, the new medicines service, administering vaccinations and emergency supply.
The new function is available for some services on the Sonar and Pinnacle advanced services systems, although pharmacists will have to contact their suppliers to clarify the position for their particular systems.
Integration step
Tahmina Rokib, pharmacist and clinical lead for digital medicines and pharmacy at NHS Digital, said: “SCR 1-click will allow pharmacists quicker access to critical information when carrying out community pharmacy advanced services. This is a great first step to integrating core clinical tools into systems to make things more efficient for busy health care professionals.
“It would be great to see integration of SCR and other digital tools by more system suppliers in the future so that clinicians can fully reap the benefits.
“Improved access to SCR will support pharmacists to provide better and safer care for patients through more informed decision making due to quicker access to information.”
Access to the SCR enables pharmacies to check information on a patient such as allergies, current medications and eligibility for services such as a free flu jab.
Pharmacists were given access to the SCR in 2015 to enable them to quickly check on such conditions to ensure safety in dispensing medicines to patients.
Last year NHS Digital worked with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society to update guidance on usage of the record.
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