Your Summary Care Record (SCR) contains key information about the medicines you are taking, any allergies you suffer from and any adverse reactions to medicines you have had in the past.
Information about your healthcare may not be routinely shared across different healthcare organisations and systems. You may need to be treated by health and care professionals that do not know your medical history. Essential details about your healthcare can be difficult to remember, particularly when you are unwell or have complex care needs.
Having a Summary Care Record can help by providing healthcare staff treating you with vital information from your health record. This will help the staff involved in your care make better and safer decisions about how best to treat you.
You have a choice
You have the choice of what information you would like to share and with whom. Authorised healthcare staff can only view your SCR with your permission. The information shared will solely be used for the benefit of your care.
Your options are outlined below:
- Express consent for medication, allergies and adverse reactions only. You wish to share information about these things only.
2. Express consent for medication, allergies, adverse reactions and additional information. You also wish to share further medical information that includes: Your significant illnesses and health problems, operations and vaccinations you have had in the past, how you would like to be treated (such as where you would prefer to receive care), what support you might need and who should be contacted for more information about you.
3. Express dissent for Summary Care Record (opt out). Select this option, if you DO NOT want any
information shared with other healthcare professionals involved in your care.
When you register with a GP Practice in England, you are automatically opted in to point 1 on the above options. If you are happy with this then you do not need to do anything, however if you would rather one of the other options you will need to complete the Summary Care Record Patient Consent Form.
Additional Information Summary Care Form
The Enhanced Summary Care Record ( also referred to as an Additional Information SCR) holds ‘additional information’ to the summary care record and is used with the patient’s consent. It is generally used for patients with complex health needs who may be seen by multiple NHS departments but we recommend all patients should consider consenting to an Enhanced Summary Care Record because if you are taken unwell in another part of the country and are unconscious or unable to communicate with a healthcare professional, this will allow them to treat you having more information about your long term conditions, care needs, a little more than the basic SCR mentioned above. It includes: –
- Significant medical history (past and present)
- Reason for medication
- Anticipatory care information (such as information about the management of long term conditions)
- Communication preferences
- End of life care information
- Immunisations and Vaccinations
You are opted OUT of an Additional Information SCR by default. If you have dementia, receiving end of life care or are frail, your GP will discuss with you if they feel you would benefit from opting in. But it’s for anyone and you can choose to opt in yourself by contacting the practice & stating you want to have an Additional Information SCR at any time.
Trusted NHS organisations that will be able to view your SCR in medically necessary situations are:
- 111
- accident and emergency
- acute assessment
- ambulance
- community care
- GP out of hours
- GP (for temporary patients)
- hospital pharmacy
- minor injury units/walk in centres/urgent treatment centres
- mental health
- hospices
Care settings NOT able to view your SCR are:
- dentistry (minor oral surgery and community dental providers)
- domiciliary care and care homes
- optometry
- private GP providers
- private hospitals and privately funded healthcare services
- adult social care
- sexual, contraceptive and reproductive healthcare services
- Any other care settings not listed above.