IT suppliers are testing pharmacy access to GP records with some pharmacies using Cegedim Rx live in a pilot stage, it has been revealed.

Speaking at the Pharmacy Show earlier this month, Tahmina Rokib, clinical lead at the clinical digital informatics, transformation directorate at NHS England (NHSE) said that Cegedim had been running a pilot with live pharmacy sites since the end of September.

'Watch this space' for other suppliers

Ms Rokib added that the other pharmacy systems -  EMIS PharmaOutcomes, Positive Solutions and Sonar - were all in the 'testing, development and assurance' stage.

'They're all making excellent progress, so I'd say watch this space, hopefully not too much longer,' she said of the eventual roll-out of GP Connect Access Record.

The system will allow registered pharmacy technicians and pharmacists access to a patient’s record in a machine-readable, structured, and coded format. Access to the system will be managed by role profiles rather than a smart card.

It follows the roll-out of GP Connect Update Record, which allows pharmacies to send consultation notes to GP surgeries in a structured format, where they can be added automatically or with 'one-click' to the patient's GP record.

The GP Connect functionalities have been developed for use with Pharmacy First, the Pharmacy Contraception Service and the pharmacy blood pressure service.

'Extensive amount of assurance' in progress

Also at the event, Charis Stacey, NHSE community pharmacy and digital primary care strategy lead, said that suppliers enabling live access to patient records needed to do 'an extensive amount of assurance', which meant it had taken 'a little bit longer to work through with the suppliers'.

'We need to ensure is that when this is live across all your systems, it's going to be doing the things that you want, because even from day one, it will be starting to have benefit,' she said.

Cegedim 'on track to become first Access Record pharmacy IT supplier'

Tracey Robertson, product and technology director for Cegedim Rx confirmed to The Pharmacist that the functionality was currently being tested 'with a number of pilot pharmacies' before it would be rolled out nationally in its clinical services platform Pharmacy Services.

'When live, GP Connect Access Record will make a patient’s medical information available to pharmacy professionals at the point of delivering an NHS clinical service. It’ll help serve up insights that are not only vital for pharmacies and the care they provide to their patients, but it will also help to greatly improve interoperability,' she said.

'We’re excited to be a part of this initiative and we’re on track to become the first pharmacy IT supplier to roll out GP Connect Access Record,' Ms Robertson added.

NHSE 'very much aware' of issues with GP Update Record

Also at the Pharmacy Show, Robert Hebdon, NHSE pharmacy integration lead said that policy teams were 'very much aware' of and were reviewing issues around GP practices switching off GP Connect Update Record.

Safeguarding reminder around Update Record

The NHSE team also reminded pharmacists not to use Update Record to communicate actions, referrals or safeguarding concerns with GP practices but to use alternative processes such as phone calls or emails instead to ensure the action was picked up.

And they highlighted that notes shared via Update Record could be seen by the patient or by someone with proxy access via the NHS App.

They stressed that pharmacists must gain patient consent to use Update Record and ensure the patient was aware of proxy access if enabled, particularly around sensitive services such as the Pharmacy Contraception Service.

And they suggested that alternative means should be used if note-taking via Update Record was not appropriate.

'Patient passport' to bring together primary and secondary care data

Today, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has committed to creating a ‘patient passport’ which brings together all patient information on the NHS App.

The government said it will 'put patients in control of their own medical history, meaning they don’t have to repeat it at every appointment', and ensure that staff 'have the full picture of patients’ health'.

And new laws will be introduced to make NHS patient health records available across all NHS trusts, GP surgeries and ambulance services in England, which DHSC said would help with 'speeding up patient care, reducing repeat medical tests, and minimising medication errors'.