The Summary Care Record (SCR) is a new NHS computer system that provides emergency doctors and nurses with vital medical information about a patient, especially when the surgery is closed. Initially, it contains only medication and allergy information. As the system develops, other NHS staff members will have access to it, too. It includes data from hospitals, out-of-hours services, and specialists’ letters. The SCR aims to improve emergency care.
Your information will be extracted from practices such as ours and held on central NHS databases.
Like any new system, there are advantages and disadvantages. When you speak to an emergency doctor, you might miss out on something important, and having access to your medical records could prevent mistakes or problems. However, even in such cases, NHS staff must ask for your consent whenever they want to access your records unless you are medically incapable.
If you’re hesitant about sharing your personal information, you can choose to keep it within this practice. The Summary Care Record, managed by Connecting for Health (CfH), has agreed with doctors’ leaders that new patients can decide whether or not their information is uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System.
For existing patients it is different in that it is assumed that you want your record uploaded to the Central NHS Computer System unless you actively opt out.