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Pharmacists Need Records Access To Ensure Safest Prescribing

Scotland's community pharmacists are seeking access to electronic patient records as a top priority – driven by their desire to ensure the safest possible prescribing.

Increasing demands on community pharmacists to provide emergency and out-of-hours pharmaceutical care and independent prescribing for patients through schemes such as Urgent Supply Patient Group Direction means access to accurate information is more vital than ever.

In their newly published Manifesto, Community Pharmacy Scotland – which represents the owners of Scotland’s 1225 community pharmacies – is making access to the electronic patient record a major priority.

Chief Executive Harry McQuillan said: “Community pharmacists are supplementary and independent prescribers. They also prescribe medicines within the Minor Ailment Service and under the Urgent Supply Patient Group Direction. With the recent introduction of the Chronic Medication Service, they will be involved going forward in the pharmaceutical care and management of people with chronic long term conditions.

"We strongly maintain that it is vital for community pharmacists to have access to the electronic patient record in order to ensure effective and safe pharmacist prescribing and urges that this be recognised, supported and delivered appropriately within an acceptable timescale".

This aim for the organisation will be one of several contained within the Manifesto which will inform the organisation’s negotiations and contact with the Scottish Government.

Other key aims include:

• A greater role in influenza and pneumococcal immunisation services – an area in which they are already heavily involved through the purchasing, storage and supply of vaccines
• An enhanced role for community pharmacists in the care of drug misusers. Pharmacists are already providing care to more than 21,000 drug misusers in Scotland, but could be given a greater role in support of the current drug strategy objectives
• An enhanced public health role for community pharmacies – often the first port of call for many people accessing NHS services. Significant and successful work has already been undertaken in the fields of smoking cessation and emergency hormonal contraception
• Continued development of the role of community pharmacists in the management of chronic diseases through future development and resourcing of the Chronic Medication Service

Martin Green, Chairman of Community Pharmacy Scotland, said: “The creation of a Scottish Government through devolution has had a direct and powerful impact on the direction of pharmaceutical care, and in particular community pharmacies.

"The drive to create a genuinely modern NHS that recognises the contribution and potential across all of the health professions and disciplines is about trying to improve access to health care and reduce health inequalities.

Around 600,000 people visit a pharmacy in Scotland every day – we are the most accessible of the healthcare professions and are increasingly viewed as a vital front-line profession in terms of promoting public health and also managing health issues, helping to alleviate stress on more acute services.

We have seen great successes. The Minor Ailment Service was introduced four years ago to allow community pharmacists to manage and treat common clinical conditions. There are now more than 722,000 people registered for the service, and more than 70,000 MAS consultations take place every month.

This increased role for highly-qualified, highly trained pharmacists – recognising their clinical skills - is to be welcomed. It will continue to develop, but for the success to continue we need to ensure that our members get the tools and resources to do the job."