The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has produced a decision tool for community pharmacists when accessing a patient’s electronic Summary Care Record (SCR).

The decision tool is designed to aid professional judgement when accessing the patient’s information, says the organisation. This includes a decision-making matrix, which covers governance requirements for accessing a patient’s SCR, plus potential scenarios where there may be a professional clinical need to do so. The scenarios include: supplying medicines in an emergency, finding out about allergies and checking potential medicine interactions with over the counter medicines.

Community pharmacists will receive a one-off allowance of £200 for joining the scheme, which is currently being rolled out. Pharmacy contractors have to prove compliance with a number of regulations governing access to and use of the information before being allowed to enrol.