Government backs pharmacist access to EPR

The government has backed plans for pharmacists to be allowed access to electronic patient records but says the public will be consulted on consent and confidentiality issues.

Caroline Flint, health minister, told MPs in a Parliamentary written reply last week that the government believed pharmacists would need access to patient records to enable them to play a full part in meeting the demands of 21st century health care.

However she went on to state that the government recognised from talks with stakeholders that there were concerns about how consent and confidentiality concerns could be addressed in a community pharmacy.

The reply adds: “Information governance standards will need to be strictly adhered to, and appropriate assurance mechanisms put in place before community pharmacists will be permitted access to the national health service care records service. We are committed to public consultation on these issues.”

All the major pharmacy organisations have called for pharmacists to have read and write access to the NHS Care Records Service but at the moment pharmacy access to the NHS Spine is restricted to the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

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