National Summary Care Record
NHS England will upload medical information from practice clinical systems to create individual Summary Care Records, which will be accessible nationally by emergency care.
The information held will be limited to any medicines that you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had to ensure those caring for you have enough information to treat you safely.
The Summary Care Record will be available only to authorised healthcare staff providing your care anywhere in England, and they will have to get your explicit permission to view the information before they can look at it. This means that if you have an accident or become ill, healthcare staff treating you will have immediate access (if you give them permission at that time) to important information about your health.
You do have a choice (which can be changed at any time) as to whether you create a Summary Care Record for yourself. If you want a Summary Care Record you do not need to do anything and a Summary Care Record will be created for you. If you do not want a Summary Care Record then you will need to complete an opt-out form, which will allow us to mark your clinical record so that no medical information is accessed by the national system.
Cheshire Care Record
In addition to the National Summary Care Record a more local system has been introduced to create a Cheshire Care Record for each individual. This system is designed to enable authorised doctors, nurses and other trained health care professionals within Cheshire to see a summary of what is held on your GP clinical record. The users of this system are greater than the National System (which is limited to emergency care situations) within Cheshire, as it will include people like hospital consultants who you may have been referred to.
In addition to the information held on the National Summary Care Record (medications, allergies and reactions to medicines) the Cheshire Health Record will hold active and significant past problems and your health status, such as weight, height and blood pressure. As with the national system, the record will only be viewed at the point of treatment and with your consent.
