An SCR should only be viewed if the health and care professional is involved in the patient's care. This is called a 'legitimate relationship'.
The patient should be asked for their permission before their SCR is viewed. This is called 'Permission to View'. Permission to View is designed to ensure that a patient has been informed about how their personal information is being used. It also allows the patient to determine who can view this information in the context of the care being provided to them.
The ways that health and social care operates are diverse and the approach to implementing Permission to View will vary. The Permission to View guidelines are available to support organisations to implement it effectively.
Users must have smartcards with the correct codes enabled and a connection to the secure NHS network.
Health and care professionals should:
- Log on to their local system using their smartcard.
- Choose the correct job role for accessing 1-Click if they have more than one job role on their smartcard.
- Search for the patient, using NHS number if possible.
- Select the 1-Click Service button to launch the 1-Click Service in a child browser window.
- Ask for the patient's permission to view the SCR and record it, or choose the emergency access option if the patient is unconscious or can't answer, and add a note.
SCR context training
For those organisations new to SCR there is an ‘Open access session’ of e-learning available. The purpose of this training is to provide potential users of the system with an overview of the SCR and a step-by-step guide on how to use it, together with the elements that you need to be aware of to protect you and patients when accessing patient data. There are new sections relating to the enriched contents of SCR and video case studies to see where SCR can be, and is, used.
Summary Care Records interactive e-learning
Privacy officer
Organisations wishing to view SCRs must appoint and train a privacy officer for the organisation, who will monitor SCR access - for more information see information governance in SCR.
Useful resources
Summary Care Records (SCR) - NHS Digital
Quicker access to the Summary Care Record for community pharmacies
Summary Care Records - Royal Pharmaceutical Society