SCR data accreditation 'to be dropped'

NHS Connecting for Health looks likely to drop the requirement for GP practice data to be accredited before Summary Care Records are created and uploaded to the Spine.

Practices are currently required to have completed component two of the IM&T directed enhanced service on data accreditation or a local equivalent before data is uploaded.

However, Dr Gillian Braunold, clinical director for the SCR, told a PRIMIS+ conference last month that it was likely that practices would no longer need to go through a formal data accreditation process.

Instead practices will only need to have primary care trust approval to be paper light.

Until now, practices have had to be approved as paper light and then go on to complete a data accreditation assessment. This included a quantative analysis of the practice data by data quality organisation PRIMIS+ and a visit from a trained assessor.

In answer to a question, Dr Braunold told the conference that in order not to hold up the roll out of the SCR practices would need paper light accreditation for medication but not formal data accreditation such as the IM&T DES or an IM&T local enhanced service.

Earlier this year, Dr Braunold said primary care trusts would need to offer local incentive schemes for data accreditation to support the roll-out of the SCR following the ending of the IM&T DES.

She said CfH was also talking to the Department of Health to incorporate national standards for data quality and information governance into the GP contract as part of the review of the contract for 2010.

However, since then any changes to GPs’ contract for 2010 have been put on hold as part of the deal agreed with the profession for implementation of the swine flu vaccination programme.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health told EHI Primary Care: “We are working with the NHS to clarify and re-state the requirements for data quality for the Summary Care Record programme following the end of the IM&T DES earlier this year.”