The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is today launching a campaign for pharmacists to have 'read and write' access to health records when consulting patients and dispensing medicines.

The RPS is calling for pharmacists to have "secure, electronic access to a single up-to-date patient record to enable the delivery of safer, more effective, high quality care". The move would improve medicine use, keep patients and health professionals better informed and provide more holistic patient care, said the Society.

The NHS in England has already announced a programme to roll out Summary Care Record access to community pharmacies across England, after pilots showed this level of access reduced unnecessary visits to the GP and avoidable medicine errors. But the RPS wants to see a staged development of this initiative towards pharmacist read-write access to the single complete electronic health record for all patients which is currently in development across Great Britain. Focus groups held in Scotland by the Society revealed that patients support pharmacist access to full patient records where patients themselves choose, and explicitly consent to, who can access the information.

Chair of the RPS English Pharmacy Board Sandra Gidley (pictured) said: "It is vital for patient safety that informed decision making is at the centre of all healthcare interventions. Full, patient-led access to health records would greatly enhance the ability of pharmacists to add information as well as to read appropriate information regarding a patient's care. We have proven successfully through the recent pilot of pharmacist's access to the Summary Care Record that patient care is enhanced by appropriate access to information."

Acting Vice Chair of the Welsh Pharmacy Board Paul Harris said: “Access to patient information will allow the pharmacy profession to play an even greater role in the provision of safe and effective health care in Wales. It will further contribute to the prudent healthcare approach which depends upon a coordinated and collaborative approach between health professionals and people in Wales.”

Chair of the Scottish Pharmacy Board Dr John McAnaw said: "As members of the health and social care teams across Scotland, pharmacists play a key role in delivering pharmaceutical care to patients and the public. With the emergence of community health hubs in the near future, and a drive for more pharmacist prescribers in our communities, the time has come for pharmacists to have direct access to the patient record."