RPS in Scotland reiterates need for access to patient records

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland has reiterated the need for pharmacist access to digital patient records.

Jonathan Burton, chair of the RPS’s Scottish Pharmacy Board, told the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee on 1 October 2019, as part of its inquiry into the future of primary care in Scotland, that “access to basic electronic care summaries is still not commonplace in community pharmacy”.

“We lack not only the ability to see records, but to populate them with a record of the care that we provide. That limits integration,” he said.

“We should be aiming for a centralised digitised record, of which the patient has ownership.

“Professions that are arguing for increased access to records and increased ability to write into records should be mindful that we need to take patients with us on the journey: their consent is essential.”

Burton also said that remuneration and training systems should support pharmacists “who offer patients a package of care, not just a package of medicine”.

This echoes calls by Community Pharmacy Scotland which, in August 2019, said that it was negotiating with the Scottish government for pharmacists to receive funding for each consultation they undertake in the national minor ailment service, irrespective of the dispensing outcome.

The RPS in Scotland also submitted written evidence to the parliamentary committee, in which it said that schoolchildren should be taught how to navigate the NHS as part of health literacy education.