Summary Care Records

The Summary Care Record (SCR ) is a Central NHS Computer System designed as a new way of caring for you in an emergency. The Summary Care Record will help emergency doctors and nurses help you when you contact them when the surgery is closed. It will give healthcare staff faster, easier access to reliable information about you to help with your treatment.

Your information will be obtained from practices and held on a secure central NHS system. You can choose whether or not to have a Summary Care Record. If you decide to have a Summary Care Record it will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had. You may want to add other details about your care to your Summary Care Record. This will only happen if you ask for the information to be included. You should discuss your wishes with the healthcare staff treating you.

Only healthcare staff involved in supporting or providing your care can see your Summary Care Record. These:

  • Need to be directly involved in caring for you
  • Need to have an NHS Smartcard with a chip and passcode (like a bank card and PIN)
  • Will only see the information they need to do their job
  • Should have their details recorded

Healthcare staff will ask your permission every time they need to look at your Summary Care Record. If they cannot ask you, for example if you are unconscious, they may look at your Summary Care Record without asking you. If they do this, they will make a note on your record to say why they have done so.

Existing patients will already have been contacted by letter and been given the opportunity to opt out. Of course, if you do not want your medical records to be available in this way then you will need to let us know so that we can update your record. You can do this via our Summary Care Record Opt Out form.

Useful links about Summary Care Records: