Review supports value of Summary Care Record

29 October 2010

SUMMARY Care Records containing core patient information will prove valuable in emergency cases, the Department of Health has announced.

Reviews commissioned by health minister Simon Burns concluded that clinicians should have access to essential medical information to ensure the safe treatment of emergency or out of hours patients. They also said there needs to be a clearly defined minimal scope of the SCR, with additional information only added with the patient’s explicit consent.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley confirmed earlier this month that the SCR scheme will be rolled-out and that patients would be given the right to opt-out. Records will be restricted to essential information for emergency care, including a patient’s demographic details, medications, allergies and adverse reactions.

One review led by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh involved leading patient representatives and clinicians who agreed that clinicians needed access to emergency patient information. Another led by Joan Saddler, director of patient and public affairs, looked into how patients are communicated with. It agreed that the letter being sent out about the SCR needs to be simplified and that an opt-out form should be included.

Health Minister, Simon Burns, said: "I am pleased that a consensus has emerged about the importance of the SCR in supporting safe patient care, as long as the core information contained in it is restricted to medication, allergies and adverse reactions.

"Coupled with improvements to communication with patients which reinforce their right to opt out, we believe this draws a line under the controversies that the SCR has generated up to now.”