EXCLUSIVE

NHS England is “convinced” that allowing pharmacists to amend patient records will improve care, according to the commissioning body’s acute care lead.
 
The organisation has no timetable for granting pharmacists full read-write access to records, but it is "quite likely" to happen "over time", Keith Willett told C+D at a King’s Fund event on Tuesday (September 22).

NHS England announced the rollout of read-only access to patients’ summary care record in all pharmacies in England in June, and Professor Willett said expanding this to allow pharmacists to amend records would be a "great step" for the sector.
 
Everybody at NHS England is “convinced” that greater access would be "really beneficial for patient care", he stressed.

There are "all sorts" of other benefits to read-write access, including increasing patient safety, improving medicines optimisation and raising public confidence in pharmacy, he said.

“We’ll get there. People who feel they are the guardians of the patient’s medical records will need some convincing that it’s the right way to go,” he added.

Last month, pharmacy bodies hit back at a “wholly misleading” national newspaper article that warned pharmacy chains could “exploit” access to patient records. 

How would read-write records access improve your service to patients?

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