10:08am Thursday 11th March 2010
Would you want information about your medication put online? Health Editor Barry Nelson investigates a system designed to improve patient safety, but which the British Medical Association thinks is being rushed through too quickly.
THIS may come as a shock, but if you have to see a doctor when your normal surgery is closed, he or she probably won’t have a clue about your medication. Even more worrying, they won’t have any idea if you have had any allergic reaction to drugs.
Most people assume that doctors can call up such vital information by tapping in a few details on a computer keyboard. But this kind of centralised information is simply not available in the 21st Century NHS. Until now, that is.
Currently, the only way to check what drugs a patient is taking, or whether they have had a bad reaction to any medication, if they are seen at weekends or in the evening, is either to rely on the patient’s memory or to ask them to bring the drugs they are taking.
This unsatisfactory state of affairs is about to come to an end for the vast majority of NHS patients with the introduction of a system called Summary Care Records (SCR).
The clue is in the name. These computerised patient records are a brief summary of a patient’s past and present medication. They will not include a detailed medical history.
Tens of thousands of North-East patients have already received letters from their local NHS notifying them that, unless they register their objections within 12 weeks, extracts from their medical records will be uploaded to a secure, centralised site.
The emphasis here, according to the NHS, is secure. Andy Carr, an expert from Connecting for Health, which is working with the NHS on the introduction of the system, says security is at the heart of the new approach.
“It is true that most patients already assume this kind of information, which is an essential part of caring for patients, is already shared within the NHS,” says Mr Carr.
“It will not be all of your records, just the kind of details that a doctor needs to safely prescribe medication. Clearly, all of this needs to be done carefully, safely and in a secure way.”
How secure the new system will be is explained in a leaflet which patients in the Durham Dales and Darlington areas have received. It explains that, when the SCR system is up and running, anyone who has access to a patient’s records must be directly involved in caring for them and must have an NHS Smartcard with passcode, like a bank card.
They will only be able to see the information they need to do their job, will have their details recorded (who they are and if they have added or changed any of your information) and will have to ask your permission every time they need to look at your SCR.
If anyone attempts to look at your records without the right clearance, an alarm will be triggered and an investigation will follow.
The kind of NHS staff who will have clearance are doctors and senior nurses working in hospital accident and emergency departments, and walk-in treatment centres, and medics employed by out-of-hours agencies, who provide cover and home visits at weekends and in the evenings.
Over six million patients in England have been sent letters and a booklet explaining how SCR works and giving them the chance to opt out, and about one million patients living in the first wave of SCR pilots now have a live Summary Care Record.
Two of the areas which have gone over to the new system are Bradford and Airedale, in West Yorkshire, and Bolton, in Lancashire.
In the North-East, Darlington and the Durham Dales are among the first in the next wave to begin this process, along with primary care trusts in Teesside.
Mr Carr says the number of people who have objected to their medical records being uploaded to the system is a tiny proportion.
“Currently, around 0.66 per cent of patients are objecting. Patients have a minimum of 12 weeks to register their objection, after that the patient’s practice will start sending that information.
It will happen overnight.”
Sophisticated software means that only the relevant information will be extracted from the patient’s records.
A survey of out-of-hours doctors working in Bolton found that 70 per cent felt that having the new records made it safer for the patient.
Pharmacists working in the Royal Bolton Hospital said it now takes only two minutes to check a patient’s medication, compared to the average of 14 minutes before the changes.
But not everybody is entirely happy with the way that the SCR system is being introduced.
This week the British Medical Association (BMA) voiced concerns that it is not made easy enough to opt out.
THE BMA, which would like to see an optout form sent out with the letter informing people of the changes, has written to the Government asking it to stop the programme being rolled out to any more areas.
Pat Keane, a spokesman for NHS County Durham and Darlington, says patients have been given information about how they can opt out. But so far, of the 144,000 patients who have received letters about the SCR scheme, the primary care trust has had only 139 inquiries.
Dr Nari Pindolia, a Bishop Auckland GP who has been involved in the SCR roll-out, says the benefits of the system are obvious.
“When I used to do out-of-hours work this would have been fantastic and so useful,” he says. “Sometimes, with elderly patients, it was really difficult to work out what medication they were on if they didn’t have their drugs with them. It is also really useful when you are seeing somebody who is from outside your area and you don’t know them. It is much safer and just makes sense.”
Dr Kat Noble, an emergency care GP, who works in Durham City, sums up the advantages of the system.
“The benefits of having the information held on the Summary Care Record is that staff providing out-of-hours service can view the patients’ medical information straight away, rather than trying to get hold of GPs in the evenings and at weekends.
“This is potentially a huge saving in time and effort, and the patient benefits from having the information more readily available, leading to a faster assessment of their needs and quicker treatment.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/trade_directory/