Scottish pharmacy bodies have called on the government to follow England's example and rollout records access to pharmacies across the country.

Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) chief executive Harry McQuillan said he had “noted with interest” that the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) planned to allow every pharmacy in England to access the summary care record (SCR), and “urged the Scottish government to look into similar access”.

Mr McQuillan said on Tuesday (June 23) that he had accessed SCR technology “over 10 years ago” and claimed that introducing it across the Scottish community pharmacy network would “enhance patient care”.

His view was echoed by Alex MacKinnon, director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland, who said both organisations had been “advocating this for the best part of 15 years”.

“I would encourage the government to work with key stakeholder bodies - including the RPS and CPS - to enable similar access for community pharmacists working in Scotland,” he said.

The rollout of SCR access was “great news for patients and pharmacists in England", and would “undoubtedly be a key enabler for the development of community pharmacists’ clinical role”, Mr MacKinnon added.

C+D readers cautiously welcomed the news of the SCR rollout on Tuesday, but warned that pharmacists must be prepared for the extra responsibility and questioned whether the £7.5m funding was sufficient.
 

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