Independent pharmacies face NCRS risk

Independent local pharmacies could disappear if the NHS fails to deliver community pharmacy access to the NHS Care Records Service, according to a report from London University’s School of Pharmacy.

The report Delivering Faster Access to Better Care, written by Professor David Taylor and Dr Jennifer Newbould, argues that it would be in the public’s interest for community pharmacists to have read-write access to the NCRS, subject to patient consent.

Without it the report claims that not all of the advances promised by investment in NHS IT will materialise.

“It could even in time deprive people in this country of community pharmacy services altogether, at least with regard to independently located smaller pharmacies,” the authors say.

Professor Taylor said pharmacy access to records was the most important policy option for delivering better coordinated GP and pharmacy care but also the area with a substantial risk of “counter-productive conflict”.

He called for the two professions to agree a way forward which he argued would mean patients could enjoy better integrated support and said concerns from GPs that sharing their records could lead to loss of patients and reduction in their income were unfounded.

The report adds: “Rather, the risks of failing to work more effectively together to provide convenient and effective care would outweigh any that might stem from permitting community pharmacy access to patient care records.”

Delivering Faster Access to Better Care backs a recent report from MPs calling for pharmacy access to records and calls for a Pharmacist’s Charter to promote closer working between GPs and community pharmacists.

Professor Taylor said: “It would be a sad waste of money and effort if NHS service users cannot gain faster access to better primary care through allowing pharmacists to see and contribute to their medical records, so that they can provide more treatments and services directly. The more that is done in pharmacies, the more GPs and their practice colleagues can focus on caring for people with complex needs in the community.”

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Delivering faster access to better care

Fiona Barr