Reflection exercise 1

Standard 7 of the GPhC Standards for Pharmacy Professionals states that pharmacy professionals must respect and maintain a person’s confidentiality and privacy. When using a SCR, how would you ensure you meet this standard?

Action

• Download a sample standard operating procedure document template for SCR use
• Download a sample SGP standard operating procedure template document for SCR use in community pharmacy.

When and how to access the SCR

Accessing a patient’s record is done on a case-by-case basis. The exact procedure will be determined locally and is also software dependent. In general terms, the process is as follows using the web portal provided by NHS Digital called the SCR application (SCRa):

• Patient comes to the pharmacy and the pharmacy professional searches for the person
• Once the patient is located the pharmacy professional clicks ‘view’ on the SCR
• The pharmacy professional then asks the patient for permission to view the SCR
• The patient grants or denies this permission
• The pharmacy professional records the patient’s answer by clicking the relevant ‘Yes/No’ option
• The pharmacy professional should also enter the reason for accessing the SCR in the free text ‘enter reason for access’ box – for example: “providing MUR”
• If permission is granted, the pharmacy professional can access the SCR. Emergency access
• A pharmacist decides that he/she needs to see the patient’s SCR as this is in the best interest of the person, then click/selects the emergency access option
• They enter the reason into the free text box and the SCR is displayed.