Charities support new electronic patient records
pharmafile | October 12, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | IT, NHS, electronic patient records
The troubled project to launch an NHS-wide electronic patient record system has received new support from patient groups.
The Summary Care Record (SCR) project has been badly delayed by concerns about security and confidentiality, but patient groups are urging their members to use the new online records.
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, Mencap, Asthma UK, Diabetes UK and the British Lung Foundation are among those this week encouraging patients to add information to that which is already held.
For the government it is a welcome show of support for a project which at one point seemed threatened by wider problems in the NHS IT programme.
The hope is that by providing accessible details of ongoing medical conditions, SCRs will improve patient safety in emergencies and improve the consistency and quality of care wherever the patient is being treated.
Almost nine million SCRs have been created and 33 million patients have been given written notice regarding the information that is held on them.
Yet just a year ago the whole process was the subject of a ministerial review after which it was decided that only a few core pieces of data could be copied in electronic form from a patient’s GP’s medical record.
Adding more information should only come at the behest of patients and when trust had been established, the review concluded – a hurdle which now appears to have been overcome.
“SCRs are a vital step forward in delivering safe and effective patient care,” said Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.
“Patients with asthma can have long and detailed medical histories and it is unrealistic to expect them to repeat these whilst they are struggling to breathe, and causes unnecessary pain and stress,” he added.
His view was echoed by senior figures in several other patient groups and NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh, who led the review last year, said such votes of confidence in the system were “heartening”
“The SCR offers patients the reassurance that they can easily make the most crucial information about their condition available to anyone treating them,” he said.
Patients can still stop an SCR being created by using the opt out form included in letters being sent to patients or by consulting their GP.
“We see the great potential for SCRs to support staff across the NHS in dealing with rare conditions, such as muscular dystrophy, and are committed to raising awareness of the scheme amongst our supporters,” concluded Nic Bungay, director of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.
Adam Hill
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