Scots pharmacists look for ECS access

Community pharmacists in Scotland are hopeful that they will be able to access the Emergency Care Summary following the Scottish general election.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland has made access to health records for community pharmacists one of its four demands in its manifesto for the election. 

It says the response from politicians of all parties on access to the ECS has been positive.

Iain Brotchie, a spokesperson for the RPS in Scotland, said the society believed access to Scotland’s ECS would enable more community pharmacists to prescribe and lead to more cost-effective and better care for patients.

He told EHI Primary Care: “The society in Scotland believes that Scottish politicians are listening to the message here and that there are not any impassable objections to pharmacists gaining access to the ECS.”

The positive response from Scotland is in contrast to the route being followed in England, where plans for a pilot project to trial community pharmacist access to the Summary Care Record have been pulled by the Department of Health.

The ECS covers the whole population and is mainly used by doctors working out-of-hours and in accident and emergency departmetns. However, it is also already accessed by some hospital pharmacists and some pharmacists working for Scotland’s health helpline, NHS24.

Brotchie said a consultation the that the Society ran in the autumn about what Scottish pharmacists wanted from the next government found that 86% wanted to see improved information sharing and access to health records.

He said access to records would support the roll-out of the Chronic Medication Service in Scotland, which aims to give pharmacists a new role in managing pharmaceutical care plans and repeat prescriptions for people with chronic conditions.

The Scottish general election will take place on 5 May, and is already generating intense debate about the future of the NHS and its funding.