The latest statistics from NHS Digital show that more than half of community pharmacies in England (almost 6,000) have now accessed the Summary Care Record (SCR). Greater Manchester is already exceeding 50%, and with additional training being planned for January we expect access to soon be higher.

This is a significant milestone in the roll-out of SCR to the community pharmacy sector and its usage could help pave the way for read/write access.

Accessing SCR has also been included as one of the criteria in the new Quality Payments scheme: increased usage could be worth up to £640 in 2017/18. PSNC will shortly release a calculator to assist contractors in determining their usage of SCR.

Pharmacy contractors are also entitled to claim a £200 SCR allowance, but they only have until 31st March 2017 to start accessing SCR in order to trigger the payment.

Nazam Iqbal, a pharmacist working at Manor Pharmacy (Blundell’s Pharmacy Ltd) in Leigh, said:

“The process of setting up the SCR viewer was simple and easy. I can use it when delivering services such as the flu jab, or when an issue arises with the emergency supply of medication. It is an invaluable tool to help pharmacists make a better clinical judgement, with all the relevant information available to them.”

Frequently asked questions

Q. I have yet to attend an NHS Digital approved face-to-face implementation briefing; when will there next be events in my area?

A. If you are among the 10% of contractors yet to attend a face-to-face event, a limited number of events are expected to be organised in 2017 and an announcement on these is expected shortly. Please refer to psnc.org.uk/SCRtraining for more information, and keep an eye on your email as GMLPC will be sending out information regarding local training opportunities.

Q. I have attended an SCR implementation event but am not yet using SCR; how do I get started?

A. If you have already attended a face-to-face event but are not yet using SCR then PSNC has created an implementation checklist to help explain the steps in the go-live process.

Q. Is there a way to practise using SCR?

A. PSNC recommends using test patient NHS numbers (e.g. 999 040 2132) to help you become more familiar with the process. You can practise SCR access using this test number at: https://portal.national.ncrs.nhs.uk/portal/dt.

Q. Have you got any pointers on how to boost my pharmacy’s SCR usage?

A.The PSNC SCR webinar outlines some handy hints.