This article from the Times Online highlights the current status of Summary Care Records (SCRs) and how the British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed concerns that they believe that patient medical records are being uploaded too quickly.

SCRs will eventually link about 30,000 GPs and 300 hospitals to provide better coordinated patient care through online appointment systems, electronic prescriptions and faster computer links. Under the National Programme for IT, the aim is to create electronic records for 50 million people in England. So far, about 12 million patients in England have been sent leaflets with details about the new SCR system.

The system is designed so patients can opt-out if they do not wish for their information to be shared. However, the BMA is saying that the scheme is being rolled out too quickly and patients are not being given enough information to enable them to make an informed choice.

Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA said: “The break-neck speed with which this programme is being implemented is of huge concern.....If the process continues to be rushed, not only will the rights of patients be damaged, but the limited confidence of the public and the medical profession in NHS IT will be further eroded.”

In December, the Department of Health (DoH) announced the acceleration for rolling out the system, but it has since been criticised for concerns over its security and a lack of enthusiasm from GPs.

In a separate article from Silicon.com, they highlight how the DoH has spent over £700,000 on a project to study the impact of introducing SCRs with the results of the study due to help informed the wider rollout of the system.

However, despite the fact that the BMA claim they were given assurances by the DoH that a national roll out would not proceed until the study's findings were published, it appears that the DoH are continuing with the mass roll, giving Strategic Health Authorities until March 2011 to create their records.

Whilst SCRs have the potential to save patients lives by enabling doctors unfamiliar with a patient to see an overview of their medical details - for example an out-of-hours doctor - not enough is being done to communicate the benefits of the system and this could prove disastrous for the success of this scheme.

In an independent survey of patients in areas where the SCRs have been piloted, it was found that seven out of ten patients were unaware that SCRs were being created.

To read the articles in full, please click the links below:

Times Online

Silicon.com