EXCLUSIVE

Software that gives pharmacists access to GP surgery records could lead to confusion for patients, GPs have claimed. Pharmacists may give false advice based on a partial record and patients might worry that someone other than a pharmacist would access the information, they told C+D last Tuesday (June 3).

The concerns were raised in response to a software system unveiled by Numark last month. Designed by Rx Systems to connect its ProScript software in pharmacies with its EMIS software in GPs surgeries, it allows pharmacists – with GP and patient consent – to check electronically repeat prescriptions against a limited view of the surgery's patient records.

Pharmacists using the system, which Numark claimed "closed the loop" between GPs and pharmacists, should not have access to the "core patient record" and should remember that the GP is the "primary prescriber", GPs warned.

Software unveiled last month by Numark could lead to data protection problems and the distribution of erroneous advice, GPs have argued	More on IT in the pharmacy Comment: The inexorable rise of technology European experts clash over mobile future for pharmacy 'Revolutionary' software allows pharmacists to access GP records
	Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chair of the GP committee at the British Medical Association, told C+D that healthcare professionals had to be "mindful" that patients should know their information was "safe and secure".

"Patients may be content for the pharmacist to access information, but not the pharmacy assistant," he said.

Dr Paul Cundy, partner at Wimbledon Village Surgery in London, shared the concerns, arguing that the software could "take away patient choice" because it only linked to two specific systems. He said the national electronic prescription service (EPS) is sufficient.

"[With EPS,] the patient chooses where they collect their prescription. It doesn't matter what software the chemist has got, it can be picked up," he said.

But Dispensing Doctors' Association chair Dr Richard West disagreed. The software is a step in the right direction towards pharmacists having access to "the whole record", he said.

"We have to try and engage pharmacists more into the whole process and if this works in doing that it will be a good thing," he told C+D.

A C+D poll in February suggested that more than half of pharmacists think full access to patients' summary care records would be the most beneficial technology for their business.

	Do you think GPs' concerns about record-sharing software are valid?   We want to hear your views, but please express them in the spirit of a constructive, professional debate. For more information about what this means, please click here to see our community principles and information