Fourth OOH centre gets access to SCR

North Staffs Urgent Care has become the fourth out-of-hours centre in England to give its clinicians access to the Summary Care Record.

Clinicians can access records for the 20% of patients in Stoke-on-Trent for whom SCRs have already been created, with more expected to be added from next month.

Mike Jones, NHS Connecting for Health project manager for NHS Stoke on Trent, said that the integrated application from out-of-hours software supplier Adastra meant clinicians were automatically alerted if an SCR was available.

He added: “With 50,000 records of the 250,000 patient population for Stoke already uploaded, and more GPs set to go live during August, we plan to be well past the halfway mark by the end of the year.”

Liz Gallagher, director of operations for North Staffs Urgent Care, said the start of the SCR roll-out was an important on the journey towards the point where the majority of patient records were available and uploaded.

She added: “We find that patients tend to assume that all the doctors and nurses they see have access to complete healthcare records at all times.

“If a patient that is already feeling unwell is unsure of the names and dosage details of their medication access via Adastra to the SCR is certainly going to make any consultation much safer and faster for all concerned.”

Last month, Adastra announced that more than 20,000 SCRs had been viewed via its integrated application at three early adopter sites in Bolton, Bury and Medway.

This week, the company said its latest survey of out-of-hours clinicians showed that 61% who had accessed the SCR during an out-of-hours consultation felt that it improved their clinical decision making and prescribing.

Jim Chase, managing director of Advanced Health and Care, which provides Adastra software, said Stoke on Trent Primary Care Trust and West Midlands strategic health authority had worked closely with North Staffs Urgent Care to deliver the solution.

He added: “The SCR is important. Clinicians are beginning to expect this support when they work in the demanding out-of-hours environment and patients expect clinicians to have this information to hand.

“The beauty of the SCR is that it is a national solution and will be available regardless of the originating GP IT system and indeed geography.”