PCTs look for GP agreement to SCR

The summary care record roll out

Primary care trusts are seeking agreement from GP practices to go ahead with the creation of Summary Care Records in areas where their roll-out had been suspended.

NHS East of England told EHI Primary Care that the process to create SCRs will go-ahead in areas where agreement has been reached on whether adequate information has been provided to patients and practices.

A spokesperson added: “The process to reach agreement that adequate information has been provided is ongoing.”

In a letter to PCT chief executives sent in April Dave Marsden, director of strategic IM&T, said the SHA’s assurance of PCT communication plans would be strengthened following the BMA’s concerns and no SCRs would be created for a practice until it was content that it had been "fully briefed" and patients informed of their choices.

The letter adds: "Based on current plans, the remaining PCTs will not be creating SCRs until June this year and we do not expect the increased emphasis on GP practice engagement to impact on those timescales. PCTs should continue with their existing plans as agreed last year."

In another strategic health authority,NHS South East Coast, one PCT, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, planned to upload records for its first GP practice yesterday with 12 more practices in the PCT due to have records created by the end of August, according to information released to GP Dr Neil Bhatia under the Freedom of Information Act.

The effort on SCRs is proceeding ahead of any decision to keep or scrap the SCR programme by the new government and the publication of an independent evaluation report, which is not due to be published until 7 June at the earliest.

Among the first to restart uploads in east of England may be practices in Essex. Three PCTs in the county were among nine trusts in the accelerated roll-out programme that had planned uploads when the Department of Health agreed to suspend the creation of SCRs in 70 PCTs last month.

Andrew Bradshaw, deputy chief executive of North and South Essex Local Medical Committees, told EHI Primary Care that the LMC had been working with its PCTs to draw up a checklist of what steps needed to be taken before a practice might consider uploading to the SCR.

He added: “It will still be an individual decision by GP practices but the checklist will enable practices to see that a certain level of consultation has taken place.”

Bradshaw said the checklist had been approved by North Essex LMC and was being considered for approval by South Essex LMC next week, after which it would be sent out to practices.

He said it looked like one of the three Essex PCTs currently met the criteria. South West Essex, North West Essex and South East Essex had planned uploads when the suspension was announced. South West Essex was an early adopter.

NHS East of England had identified the SCR as meeting its need for a core record available across care organisations. It was among the strategic health authorities seeking ‘special dispensation’ to continue with the roll-out.

A spokesperson for the SHA told EHI Primary Care that the creation of SCRs would take place in East of England “once the GP practice and PCT agree that the practice and patients have been adequately informed about the process and properly enabled to opt out should they wish."

She added: “NHS East of England is working with local SCR project teams to support them in their engagement with Local Medical Committees. In areas where agreement has been reached that adequate information has been provided the process to create SCRs will go-ahead.”

Latest figures from NHS Connecting for Health show that by 7 May 1.5m SCRs had been created and almost 30 million patients had received a letter explaining the SCR as part of a Public Information Programme.