Patients don’t have enough information about electronic patient records and their roll out should be slowed down, the BMA has warned.
Following some local piloting, patients’ summary care records are set to be uploaded to a central database across England.
The summary care record (SCR) is a centrally stored electronic patient health summary to support emergency and unscheduled care. It consists of an initial upload of a patient’s medication and allergies from the GP record.
Anyone who does not want to have a SCR has to opt out by informing their GP or by completing a form either downloaded from the internet or requested from a national call centre.
Dr Grant Ingrams, chair of the GP IT Committee, said: “The care record roll-out is now happening too hastily. While we believe it has the potential to improve both the quality and safety of patient care, we are concerned at the speed because it means patients are very unlikely to be aware of what they are automatically being enrolled into.
“We don’t believe the national roll-out needs to be or should be done in a hurry. We would like to see it rolled out carefully area by area in a properly supported and evaluated fashion.”
The NHS in England has adopted a ‘consent to view’ model which means that a patient will automatically have a SCR created unless they choose to opt out. However, they should be asked explicitly, on each occasion, before their summary record is viewed, for example during out of hours care or when they go to A&E.
Five strategic health authorities recently announced they were speeding up their plans.
John May, from the BMA’s patient liaison group, said: “An independent evaluation of the regional pilots found that seven in ten patients in those areas weren’t aware of the SCR, which meant they also weren’t aware that their details would go on to a national database. There needs to be a higher profile national information campaign to ensure everyone can make an informed choice about whether or not they want to be included.
“We also think it is important that opting-out is made easier.”
Are we heading for another NHS IT disaster? The Govt.’s record with IT is not exactly exemplary! There have been too many ‘hackers’, too many ‘lost discs’ and too many instances of confidential info. being passed on (sometimes sold?) to other organisations without the patient’s consent.
Thus, it is vital that every patient gives explicit consent to their personal data being on a national database. ‘Opting out’ is not good enough - and I would have thought might well contravene the Govt.’s own Data Protection Act!
The number of times when such info. is essential in an emergency situation, where the patient CANNOT give consent, is very small - when someone is taken to A&E unconscious with no obvious cause. In all other cases the patient could give their consent for their (electronic) records to be obtained rapidly from their GP (with adequate security protection).
I think that this is getting very bad press. It is a great ideal to provide real time information to all clinicians, out of hours GPs, Pharmacy staff, district nurses etc. You have to take this project on the whole and not just the acute a&e setting.
Personally speaking I’s appreciate a Dr anywhere in the country having upto date information about me to treat me.
GP surgeries are not open 24/7 to get the infomation “rapidly” as Malcoim states. Has he tried to get in touch with one for an appointment!!