As the rollout of Summary Care Records (SCR) to community pharmacists in England continues, Numark has published on its website all information a contractor needs to register and access SCR including guidance, templates and flow charts.

Gary Choo, Numark’s Head of Information Services, said, ‘Access to the Summary Care Record is an extremely useful addition to the pharmacist’s toolkit. It will help us get closer to the patient and contribute ultimately to better health outcomes. Access to accurate patient information will inevitably enhance pharmacists’ role in medicines management.

‘Several Numark members were involved in the trial and they told us that they found it was hard to break the habit of just picking up the phone to the GP surgery. However, they had found it useful when locums were covering, on Saturday mornings when the surgery was closed and particularly in emergency supply situations. Where our members had accessed the SCR, it saved time, for instance in call backs from the GP. It’s important to note, though, that this is about saving time for the GP too.

‘It’s evident that it’s all too easy for pharmacists to do what they normally do and it’s hard to make a change in behaviour to incorporate the SCR so it needs to be incorporated into the SOPs. The feedback we’ve received was that it was pretty easy to use as long as the smartcard is in the computer and straightforward to find the patient through basic personal information.’

The Numark online toolkit includes:

  • Patient leaflet
  • Decision-making flowchart
  • SOP
  • Implementation checklist
  • Frequently asked questions
  • Links to other resources e.g. RPS quick reference guide, training information

Gary continued, ‘SCR provides a platform for the future of pharmacy, not just for patient safety and effective treatment, but also for an alternative contract.  Importantly, there may be the opportunity to one day allow pharmacy to write into GP records.  However, there is a need to build confidence with GPs and as such it will be a ‘one step at a time’ approach. So, if pharmacy really wants this level of access it needs to be embraced now.’