The NHS in England is introducing the Summary Care Record (SCR), which will be used in emergency care. The record will contain information about medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had, to ensure those caring for you have enough information to treat you safely.
Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.
How will Summary Care Records help me?
Healthcare staff will have quicker access to information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had. This means they can provide you with safer care during an emergency, when your GP practice is closed or when you are away from home in another part of England.
How will you control who can see my Summary Care Record?
Healthcare staff who can see your SCR:-
- need to be directly involved in caring for you.
- will only see information they need to do their job
- will have their details recorded
Healthcare staff will ask your permission every time they need to look at your SCR. If they cannot ask you, e.g. if you are unconcious or in certain circumstances such as a court order, healthcare staff may look at your record without asking you. If they do this, they will make a note on your record.
What are my choices?
- You can choose to have a SCR: You do not need to do anything. This will happen automatically.
- You can choose not to have a SCR: You need to let the practice know by filling in and returning an opt-out form. (see below).
For further information visit the Connecting for Health Website