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Pharmacists win case for direct records access |
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Community pharmacy teams are to be given access to patients’ emergency care summaries (ECS) as part of the Scottish government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pharmacy organisations have been campaigning for several years to allow pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in Scotland to be able to review relevant parts of a patient’s summary medical records so that they can check what medicines someone is on already before making a decision on any new drugs.
In a letter from the chief pharmacist and deputy directors for primary care and digital health and care in the Scottish government, Scotland’s NHS boards are being told to grant pharmacists access to the ECS system as soon as possible as part of the covid-19 response.
The decision comes at the same time that high street pharmacists are given new responsibilities to equip them for their role on the ‘front line’ against the disease’s spread.
The move has been welcomed by their professional organisation, RPS Scotland, whose chair, Jonathan Burton says it is a positive move forward for patient care in unprecedented times:
“Pharmacists and their teams are working flat out to support the public and the NHS. We want to ensure the government continues to support the vital role that pharmacy teams have in caring for their local communities.
“Yesterday we published six essential asks that we believe are vital to enabling pharmacy to cope with the workload they are facing.”
Nationally, the RPS (Royal Pharmaceutical Society) is calling on the UK and devolved nations governments to deliver a series of essential measures that support the role that pharmacists are going to continue to play, and to keep them safe.
These include the supply of personal protection equipment, regular testing for the coronavirus and additional funding to allow people to have their medicines delivered to their doors.
“We expect to see an increased impact on pharmacy services, which are already under pressure,” says Mr Burton.
“Pharmacists in both secondary and primary care settings are key to supporting medicines safety and providing frontline services to patients. It is essential that all pharmacists supporting the health service are given access to health and wellbeing support at this crucial time.”
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