Darlington first to finish SCR roll-out

More than 98% of patients in NHS Darlington now have a Summary Care Record, making it the first primary care trust to roll out the programme to its entire patient population.

All the GP practices in the area have created SCRs for patients who want them, with 1.66% of people having opted out of the scheme.

Clinical pharmacists on medical and acute admissions wards at County Durham’s two major hospitals have been viewing the records with patient consent since a pilot project was launched in July.

The hope is to extend SCR access to after-hours doctors within six months and ultimately to A&E physicians.

Dr Mike Guy, the medical director for the PCT cluster that includes NHS Darlington, said initial feedback from ward staff and clinical pharmacists pointed to important patient benefits.

“The clear message is that the availability of medication information electronically speeds up treatment and allows patients to be assisted sooner and more safely,” he said.

University Hospital of North Durham senior clinical pharmacist Laura Smith said the SCRs saved time for pharmacists and general practices.

“Using SCR means that the number of patients I get to see is increasing because I spend less time on the phone to practices requesting information,” she said.

“This means that more people are getting a pharmacist review when they come in to the hospital.”

In neighbouring NHS County Durham, 65% of practices have uploaded SCRs for approximately 480,000 patients.

“Our aim now is to support the GP practices in County Durham which are yet to upload SCRs to help them offer their patients these electronic care summaries,” said Dr Guy.

The spread of SCRs has been supported by a Public Information Programme launched in January 2010 and a communications campaign aimed at educating patients about SCRs and their right to opt-out.

Dr Graham Evans, chief information officer and director of informatics at NHS North East, said the Darlington milestone was especially significant as uptake by practices had been disappointing in some areas.

“It shows what can be achieved if practices, PCTs and informatics specialists work together for the benefit of our patients,” he said.