Shutterstock.com
Integrated digital patient care records will be created in Scotland after MSPs approved legislative amendments in the Scottish Parliament.
In a debate in Holyrood on 10 June 2025, Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton and deputy leader and health spokesperson for the Scottish Labour Party, tabled an amendment to stage three of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill, which will transfer social care responsibility from local authorities to a national service and allow ministers to transfer healthcare functions from the NHS to the National Care Service.
The amendment stated that every person who receives healthcare or a social service in Scotland must have a digital care record, to enable “secure and efficient sharing of data between health care and social services” and “as safe and seamless as possible” an experience for patients.
The record should also allow people to access their own health and care information, in a format accessible to them, the amendment proposed.
Brian Whittle, MSP for South Scotland (Region), also tabled an amendment to ensure that this record can be integrated between different systems.
Both amendments were voted through as part of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill.
In a statement published on 10 June 2025, the Scottish government said it will progress the plans to transform social care across Scotland, with an advisory board to be established to drive progress and scrutinise reform.
In addition, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) said it will work closely with the Scottish government to ensure that all pharmacists delivering health and social care in Scotland, regardless of setting or IT system, have read and write access to the records.
In 2019, the RPS told the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee that lack of access to patient records in community pharmacy “limits integration”.
Laura Wilson, director for Scotland at the RPS, said she was “delighted” by the outcome of the vote.
“This is something that we have been discussing with [the] Scottish government and MSPs for a long time, so it is great to see this legislation being passed,” she said, adding that access to patient records for community pharmacists in Scotland was “a key enabler” within the RPS’s vision for the future of pharmacy in Scotland.
She added: “This will become even more important in 2026 when all pharmacists qualify as prescribers.
“This record must have read and write access so that pharmacists, GPs and other healthcare professionals can leave a record of their interventions visible to all, reducing the risk of duplication of treatment and ensuring patients only have to tell their story once.
“We also need to ensure that this record can be accessed by every pharmacy and pharmacist, no matter which technological system they use. I look forward to working with [the] Scottish government to ensure this.”
A spokesperson for Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) also welcomed the approval of the bill, adding that the organisation “looks forward to the development of such a tool for our members and their vital teams.”
Sarah Scott, policy and public relations pharmacist at CPS, said: “The community pharmacy network has long awaited the creation of a digital patient record, which would provide community pharmacists with read-write access to patient records to support the delivery of community pharmacy health services e.g. NHS Pharmacy First Plus.
“The need for an integrated digital patient record only grows as our network of prescribing pharmacists is due to increase in 2026, with all newly qualified pharmacists having an independent prescribing qualification.
“Such a tool will also help in shifting the balance of care into the community, enabling pharmacists to assist people to remain well in their homes for longer.”
In 2024, read and write access to patient records was introduced for community pharmacies in England alongside the introduction of Pharmacy First.
