Community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across England are being given the chance to provide better, safer and more accessible patient care through access to the Summary Care Record (SCR) for the first time.

Available 24-hours, the SCR provides up-to-date patient information, including details about patients’ medicines, such as allergies and adverse reactions, which could help pharmacy teams to improve patient care and safety.

Pharmacy organisations, including the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), Pharmacy Voice and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) have long been campaigning for community pharmacies to have greater access to patient information, and have welcomed the roll out of SCR access to all pharmacies in England.

Only a registered pharmacist or pharmacy technician can view patient records, using an NHS smartcard and PIN, and only after the patient has given consent.

A recent pilot showed that by using the SCR pharmacists could help patients access essential medicines safely, while avoiding unnecessary GP visits and reducing medicines errors. For example, during the pilot, a patient contacted Woodhouse Pharmacy in Sheffield outside of GP opening hours about a prescription for an antibiotic. By checking on the SCR, pharmacist Stewart Kelly was able to discover that the patient was allergic to penicillin, and was therefore able to advise him not to take the prescribed amoxicillin.

In a joint statement, the RPS, Pharmacy Voice and PSNC, said: “We will all be playing our part in full, supporting the profession, pharmacy owners and the wider NHS in ensuring a successful roll out of Summary Care Record access through community pharmacy.”

They added that they would continue to push for pharmacies to have the ability to add useful information to the SCR, with patients’ consent.