to be appalled that the NHS is to give patient data to high street pharmascists

[mistymeanour]

Happened to see this today www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11790711/Boots-Tesco-and-Superdrug-to-get-access-to-NHS-medical-records.html

Apparently based on a study of 15 patients they are going ahead with giving the summary data on all NHS records to high street pharmacies such as Boots and Lloyd's etc. I am appalled - I don't want shop assistants having access to my data or otherpeople and various firms. I feel this is a complete breach of patient trust. We were not consulted. I filed a refusal form with my GP for the previous Tory push to give drug companies and insurance firms data but this has just been announced and is to roll out next month with no warning!

Apparently the summary data contans details of meds you have been prescribed but I know a medical summariser and the summary includes details of your conditionsand treatment. What if you don't want someone to know about a rape and abortion, or depression and mental illness you had meds for etc. Will people be only able to use the NHs in return for all their data? What ever happenedto confidentiality?

[BearFoxBear]

Oops, accidentally posted by baby fingers!

Anyway, what I was going to say was that using data effectively is the best way to enable the NHS to do things better, and for less money. Drug drug interactions cost the UK a lot of money (beside the obvious health costs to the patient) and a pharmacist will have a better view of someone's prescriptions - especially when so many people have multimorbidities that are being treated by different condultants/healthcare organisations etc who don't share data.

[AutumnshadesofGold]

Perhaps your medical coder friend failed to mention that there are various priorities within coding. So priority 1 is of great importance etc. it is only these that are included in the summary. Priorities 2 & 3 won't be, sensitive codes such as terminations, rape etc are usually coded differently again (under sensitive data)
Why on earth would you NOT want cooperation between the healthcare professionals looking after you?
This sounds like you've made a snap decision based on a tiny amount of (incorrect) information. Bonkers.

[waceystills]

Summary Care Record is just that, a summary. Your medical records are not available. I know this as this is the area of the NHS I work in. Your GP can show it to you if you have one.

Pharmacists should have access to this anyway.

[achieve6]

The way the article phrased it, I thought they would have access for marketing purposes? So if you went in for your Pills,they might be able, for example, to look you up, see you have asthma and try to sell you Vitamin C for winter or something. Have I misundersttod?

[Headofthehive55]

It's important that the pharmacist sees your medical data. You might have kidney failure and therefore certain drugs are not ideal and should be changed to different ones. This is the pharmacists area of expertise. In hospitals you often don't get the drug until a pharmacist has reviewed the prescription and has access to your medical records if need be. Why would it be different in the community? That would mean you have less protection!

You might be allergic to something and not know it by its other name...what then? That means you are relying on one person, the doctor to be 100% correct.

[CremeBrulee]

Why wouldn't you want a qualified pharmacist to see a summary of your medications and allergies?

I just don't understand this ridiculous preciousness about basic medical information being accessed by healthcare professionals that are actively involved in your treatment.

[PennyHassett]

I will hide this before I respond with something I will regret.

[bigbluebus]

Be grateful that someone will be doing a check based on up to date info. We live in a rural area so our GPs prescribe and dispense their own drugs - we never see a Pharmacist, everything is prepared and handed out by a dispenser.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

I think that was a scare-mongering tactic achieve. Trained medical professionals providing NHS services to have access to basic summaryvof important patient info would have been a bit of a non story otherwise. As other posters have pointed out, the only mystery is why they don't already have this info provided.

I suspect the only info on my summary care record that my pharmacist, and presumably a number of other local pharmacists don't already have is my multiple drug allergies. And it would be helpful for them to have that. They already know I have asthma because they have a database with everything they've prescribed my in the last 12 months, and they haven't tried to flog me vitamin C yet.

[achieve6]

Rafa, my pharmacist knows too. I was thinking more of the data being linked my Boots card, sorry I wasn't clear but I found the article unclear.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

I don't think that's going to happen though. You have to log in to access each individual SCR with a smartcard and passcode. The system logs who has accessed it and when, everytime a record is accessed. I'm not even sure that you can attach it to a loyalty card. It would be far easier to do that based on their own database of what they prescribed you in the past.

[achieve6]

Rafa, is the article really telling us about the system already in existence then?

Blooming media!

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Having reread the article, it seems to mostly be backed by 'privacy campaigners'. Which I'm going to take as a group of people with a slight 'tinfoil hat brigade' issue and not much clue about what tyhey are talking about. Which might explain why the article seems to make little sense.

As far as I can tell, if you can only access one record at a time, then you would need to link it to a club card or boots card one record at a time. Which would be quite labour intensive. And that's leaving aside the fact that you dhould only be accessing the SCR record with the express permission of the patient and in their presence. Using the pharmaciy's pre-existing database would seem to be a lot less hassle to my untrained eye.

[WitchofScots]

I'm all for the pharmacist knowing, they spotted a potentially fatal mistake that the GP made when they prescribed an adult dose of medication for DD.

[EygptianSnow]

Not happy about that at all

[Ubik1]

In scotland Pharmacists can access an emergency care summary but only with your permission.
Emergency care summary lists any regular meds/conditions. They can also access and emergency care record - again wth your permission.

If companies are accessing medical data without first obtaining permission from the patient then that is a breach of patient confidentiality.

[BabyGanoush]

The article says the companies (Tesco, Boots, Super Drug etc) will get access to the data.

Think how they can (and will) use it for direct marketing!

How they can target the vulnerable (think hard sell to dementia sufferers).

Thinkhowcharities have sold, and used customer data (the address of an elderly generous giver is worth most, think they pay the highest price for those)

If they only got 15 responses, they kept the survey well hidden.

It all stinks

The end of privacy. I am surprised people are fine with this!

So imagine if I get cancer, I can expect lots of targeted mail from Tesco and co offering me anti-oxidants, vitamin pills, life insurance, funeral/will services.....hideous hideous hideous

[Ubik1]

I really don't think they can access your data without your permission.

[britnay]

Only the till can read your storecard. The pharmacist will use a completely separate computer. The medical records will NEVER be linked to your storecard. The records will ONLY be viewable by the pharmacist.

Pharmacists, dispensers, doctors and other NHS staff are each issued with a card, with a password known only to themselves, that can only access computers in a certain system when they have been added onto it. There are different levels of access depending on the user's job role. For example, a dispenser could only access the list of drugs that have been dispensed for a patient in that pharmacy.

[FryOneFatManic]

If the companies use the data for direct marketing, that would surely be in breach of the Data Protection Act? After all, the purpose of giving access is to ensure patient safety with the medications, so any use of the data outside this would not be permitted.

[BubblyChocolate]

Picture this situation.

You are taking regular medication which you always get dispensed at the same chemist.

Your doctor decides to give you a prescription for a new medication. For whatever reason, you don't take the prescription to your regular chemist (eg it's closed, time constraints, etc) and get it dispensed at a different chemist. There is now no record of this at your regular chemist.

A few weeks later, your doctor gives you another new prescription (could be something that you have to take long term, could be a one off like antibiotics).

You take the prescription to your regular chemist to be dispensed. Your doctor has made an error and this medication should not be taken with the new one you had a few weeks ago. However, there is no record of this new medication at your regular chemist.

Would you now prefer them to have access to your medical history?

[ChoudeBruxelles]

Not sure why you wouldn't want medical data shared to improve your care but if you don't want it to happen just inform your go practice manager and they won't share data.

[titchy]

Read the ducking thread and inform yourself babyhanoush - if you have cancer the pharmacist will be able to look at what your GP has prescribed and realise that it will affect the efficacy of your chemo drugs.... But hey if you'd rather risk your cancer treatment go right ahead.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Surely there are two very easy ways to opt out of Tesco selling your medical records. A) opt out of the summary care record. B) don't get your prescriptions filled at Tesco, use a smaller independent pharmacy if it will make you feel safer.

[Ubik1]

I don't think tesco is allowed to sell medical records. Medical data is not passed on unless patient gives permission.