Contractual requirements came into force on 1 April 2014 requiring GP Practices to make available a statement of intent in relation to the following IT developments:
- Summary Care Record (SCR)
- GP to GP record transfers
- Patient online access to their GP record
- Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes
Please find below details of the practice’s position with regards to these issues.
Summary care record (SCR)
NHS England require practices to enable automated uploads of any changes to a patient’s summary information, at least on a daily basis, to the summary care record (SCR).
Having your summary care record (SCR) available will help anyone treating you who does not have access to your full medical record, for example, the out of hours service or a hospital A&E department. The SCR provides access to information about any medication you may be taking and any drugs that you have a recorded allergy or sensitivity to.
If you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record. You can do this via the opt out form.
The practice confirms that your SCR is automatically updated on a daily basis unless you have opted out.
GP to GP record transfers
NHS England require practices to use the digital GP2GP facility for the transfer of patient records between practices when a patient registers or de-registers (not for temporary registration).
It is very important that you are registered with a surgery at all times. If you leave your GP and register with a new GP, your medical records will be removed from your previous surgery and forwarded to your new surgery via NHS England. It can take your paper records up to six weeks to reach your new surgery.
With GP2GP record transfers, your electronic patient record is transferred to your new surgery via a secure NHS internet connection. This occurs much more rapidly than the transfer of your paper records.
The surgery confirms that GP2GP transfers are already active and we send and receive patient records via this system.
Patient online access to their GP record
NHS England require practices to offer patients online access to appointments, prescriptions and key elements of their medical records.
We currently offer patients the ability to book, change and cancel appointments, order repeat prescriptions and view a summary of their medical records online. If you do not already have a user name and password for online access, you can register by contacting our reception staff or requesting access via our website.
Data for commissioning and other secondary care purposes
It is a requirement of the Health and Social Care Act that practices must meet the reasonable data requirements of Commissioners, such as NHS England and NHS Enfield CCG, and other health and social care organisations through the appropriate sharing of data.
In addition to this, specific data is extracted from our clinical records system for research and planning purposes under the Care.Data programme. Please see the page about Care.Data on our website for more information.
The Practice confirms these arrangements are in place and that we undertake annual training and audits to ensure that all data is handled correctly.