GP Connect Update Record is not a ‘nice-to-have’, it’s the mechanism that lets pharmacies share clinical insights directly and securely with GPs.
Without it, we’re forced back to email: an outdated, inefficient, and unsafe way of handling patient information.
Will this Wednesday (1st October) finally bring the much-anticipated, urgently needed mandated switch-on of GP Connect, or will it be delayed yet again?
Read more: BMA and RCGP warn government not to switch-on GP Connect
As community pharmacy takes on more clinical services, being able to update and access patient records is crucial. And yet, GP Connect, the NHS initiative designed to enable this, has been met with resistance.
Just a few months after we switched on GP Connect Update Records for our pharmacy customers - the phase enabling pharmacies to add to primary care patient records after a clinical service - the BMA lobbied its members to switch it off.
The majority of GP practices complied. Some major GP software providers also disabled automatic updates, effectively closing the door on pharmacies sharing clinical insights efficiently.
Read more: GPs ordered to switch on GP Connect by new contract
The result? Valuable information is delayed, lost, or stuck in manual processes - often email -creating risk to patient safety and adding pressure to already stretched staff.
From the start of this year, just 26% of updates from our customer pharmacies reached GPs via GP Connect Update Records.
A depressing figure when you consider that community pharmacy delivered more than 3.4 million Pharmacy First services over the same period. Many of our customers report that all their local GPs have switched off the service, forcing manual workarounds that increase admin burden and risk errors.
Read more: GPs switch off update patient record function in new Pharmacy First IT twist
I have a strong personal feeling about this. We talk constantly about the merits of joined-up healthcare, yet there’s so much pushback and reluctance to change.
If we want suppliers and GPs to support this shift, we must put patient care above politics.
GP Connect is critical for community pharmacy and for patients. Yes, it’s not perfect, and the concerns raised by the BMA are valid. But the solution lies in collaboration, not delay.
Read more: Revealed: GP referrals to Pharmacy First down by quarter in a year
We cannot keep postponing. Every deferral damages patient safety, creates inefficiency, and undermines trust in collaborative care.
GP Connect is not about politics or process, it’s about patients. If pharmacy is to be the true front door to healthcare, that door must stay open.
It’s time for everyone - GPs, suppliers, commissioners - to back GP Connect and keep patient care moving forward.
Tracey Robertson is managing director of Cegedim Rx