Government go-ahead for Summary Care Record rollout

13 October 2010

THE rollout of the Summary Care Record scheme will go ahead with patients given the right to opt-out, health secretary Andrew Lansley has confirmed.

A government review has concluded that the SCR programme should continue, but would be restricted to essential information for emergency care, including a patient’s demographic details, medications, allergies and adverse reactions.

The review, led by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, agreed that when patients require treatment in an emergency or out of hours, clinicians should have access to the essential medical information they need to support safe treatment.

Mr Lansley said: “We will proceed with the Summary Care Record, but it will hold only the essential medical information needed in an emergency. That is medication, allergies and reactions.

“If people don’t want this information shared, we will make it easy for them to opt out and if they want to add to that information stored on their record, they can. It will be their choice, but based on their explicit consent.”

The health secretary said safeguards would be built into the system to protect patients, including the need for their permission to view the record “at the point of healthcare”. And any additional information added to the record would only be done so with the patient’s explicit consent.

In future, patients will be sent a letter informing them a record will be created and will include an opt-out form and a prepaid envelope. For those already written to, publicity campaigns will be launched highlighting their right to opt out of the scheme. Details on how the SCR scheme will be implemented will be included in the government’s NHA information strategy which Mr Lansley said would be published “within a week or two”.

The basic records currently include information on allergies, prescribed medication and any reported adverse reactions to drugs. The previous government’s plans to expand this to include information on inpatient and outpatient discharge summaries, and out of hours services use have been abandoned. Around two million records are now thought to have been added to a central database since uploading began in earnest at the start of the year with more to go on in the next few months.

The BMA welcomed the move, despite its previous opposition to the way the SCR scheme has been rolled out. A spokesman said: “We welcome the progress that has been made towards an emergency electronic record that supports urgent care, yet recognises many of the understandable concerns of patients and clinicians.

“Much will depend on the way the amended scheme is put into practice, and the BMA looks forward to continuing our work with Government on its implementation. It is essential that patients have genuine control over who has access to their records, and when changes are made to them.”