PCT seeks to align SCR and SystmOne consent models

The last of the six primary care trusts due to take part in the early adopter programme for the NHS Summary Care Record has insisted that the data sharing model for the SCR and its main GP system supplier should be the same.

South West Essex PCT is the last of the PCTs named as early adopters for the SCR, but was not included in the evaluation of first sites to use it earlier this year. More than 80% of its GP practices use TPP’s SystmOne, which is introducing a new data sharing model as part of its latest release, R3.

In July, EHI Primary Care reported that GPs had expressed concern about the Enhanced Data Sharing Model introduced in R3 and CfH said the system was under review before further roll-out.

The model means all patients must choose whether their information is “shareable” with all other SystmOne units with which they are registered or “private”. Patients may also opt to treat some individual events as “private” while leaving the rest of their record shareable. The default option for patients will be “private”.

This week, a spokesperson for South West Essex PCT told EHI Primary Care that the PCT wants R3 to offer patients the opportunity to give or withhold consent at each health encounter. This would mirror the new “permission to access” system for the SCR, which is expected to be ratified by the Care Records Service Programme Board next week.

The spokesperson added: “The decision has been taken here that patients should be offered the same consent model regardless of which system they are using so that permission to view would be used for SCRs and for data sharing via SystmOne.”

He said that in the first instance this would involve a change to business practices with clinicians required to ask for consent each time they viewed data shared via SystmOne.

If the “permission to access” is given approval next week, coding changes will need to be made to all GP systems to reflect the changes in the consent model.

The spokesperson added: “We are talking about defining the best system here rather than just doing what is the most convenient for the NHS.”

Four practices in South West Essex have currently signed up to take part in the first wave of the SCR programme. The launch of the SCR in the trust will probably happen in October, the spokesperson said.