The technology that allows pharmacists to view summary care records changes to a new service from today.

The Summary Care Record application (SCRa) will be fully switched off and replaced by the National Care Record Service (NCRS), which provides access to more than 63 million records.

Users will automatically be redirected to NCRS, according to NHS England.

In a bulletin sent out earlier this month, NHS England said it ‘anticipates minimal impact for users’ and that ‘all existing smartcard credentials and access rights will continue to function on the new system’.

The new service is a web-based application and can be accessed regardless of what IT system an organisation is using.

All information that was available in SCRa will remain available in the new NCRS service, although it will have a new look and feel.

Services that can be accessed by health care professionals, in addition to summary care records that are created from GP medical records, include being able to search for patient NHS numbers, Covid vaccination information (patients’ vaccination history), child protection information and more.

Further information and guidance about the switch over is available here.

This story first appeared on our sister title Management in Practice.