Review agrees value of a core Summary Care Record

Reviews commissioned by the Health Minister Simon Burns have concluded that a Summary Care Record containing core patient information will prove valuable for patients needing emergency care, the Department of Health announced today.
The Summary Care Record will only contain a patient's demographic details, medications, allergies and adverse reactions, information that may make all the difference to ensuring safe treatment when a patient needs emergency or unplanned care. Safeguards for patients include requesting their permission to view the record at the point of healthcare. Patients have a right to opt out of having a Summary Care Record and in future, all patients contacted by letter informing them that a record will be created, will have an opt out form and pre-paid envelope included. For those patients already written to, there will be awareness raising campaigns at local, regional and national levels to ensure they realise that a Summary Care Record is being created for them, unless they choose to opt out. A review, led by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, involved leading patient representatives and clinicians and agreed that when patients require treatment in an emergency or out of hours clinicians should have access to the essential medical information they need to support safe treatment. There needs to be a clearly defined minimal scope of the Summary Care Record, with additional information only added following the explicit consent of the patient. A review, led by Joan Saddler, Director of Patient and Public Affairs, into how patients are communicated with, agreed that the letter needs simplifying and an opt out form should be included. While agreeing that it would be a waste of public money to write again to the 30 million patients already contacted, it was recognised that efforts should be made at local, regional and national level to reinforce to patients that they have a choice not to have a Summary Care Record. Health Minister, Simon Burns, said:"I am pleased that a consensus has emerged about the importance of the SCR in supporting safe patient care, as long as the core information contained in it is restricted to medication, allergies and adverse reactions. Coupled with improvements to communication with patients which reinforce their right to opt out, we believe this draws a line under the controversies that the SCR has generated up to now. We see this review as having taken a significant step towards the goal of patients owning their records and using them to share decision-making with healthcare professionals." Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, said: "In an advanced national health care system it is reasonable for citizens to expect that when they arrive in Accident & Emergency or require treatment out of hours that clinicians treating them have access to enough basic medical information to prevent anyone making wrong or even dangerous decisions." Joan Saddler, OBE, Director of Patient and Public Affairs, said: "If we really want patients at the heart of care, the availability of core,personal and medical information when patients need care is essential.They must also be given clear and simple information about the Summary Care Record and the choices available to them. It should be easy for patients to opt out of the Summary Care Record and they must be supported in the decisions they take. Including the opt out form in patient letters reinforces our commitment to their right to choose not to have an SCR. Patients must be the ones who decide if any additional information should be included in their SCR, supported by appropriate professionals. This is the only way we will build trust in the SCR and its use."