The Company Chemists’ Association has urged the government to “closely examine” the Blair Institute’s proposal of a digital health record (DHR) which would give community pharmacies wider access to patient records and the public more choice about which health professional they want to see.

Under plans laid out by the Institute in a report published yesterday, every citizen in the UK would have a DHR “within one term of government” to boost the shift from treatment to prevention and move care out of hospitals and into primary and community care.

The report said DHRs could increase primary care capacity in the UK by expanding Pharmacy First and improve patients’ access to preventative care, including screening, vaccinations, management of long-term conditions and acute care which the CCA said could be delivered by community pharmacy.

During the launch of the conception of its prevention service known as Protect Britain, the Institute commissioned a macroeconomic analysis on the value of prevention and found a 20 per cent reduction in the incidence of six long-term conditions could provide a permanent uplift of 0.74 per cent to the UK’s GDP within five years.

The report also urged NHS England to draft national pathways for common conditions so patients, “empowered by their DHR,” can choose their healthcare provider through the NHS App.

“Each person’s DHR would be the ‘single source of truth’ for their health and care data – data that currently sit in silos across hospitals, GP practices, pharmacies and phones,” the report said.

“It would be the fundamental building block of all modern health systems and open up a whole new way of generating health and delivering health care in the future.”

The CCA’s head of policy Nick Thayer, who offered his advice during the report’s development, said: “A digital health record would ensure that health and care data is harnessed to ensure that patients are seen by the right person, at the right time, and in the right place.

“Any DHR must include all parts of a patient journey and care. Community pharmacy care and the data that supports that is critical to a successful patient record.

“This would allow pharmacy teams appropriate access to wider NHS records, whilst ensuring the care they provide is available across the health system. The report rightly states that a digital health record could be key to expanding the Pharmacy First scheme.”

Insisting community pharmacies have “a key role in administering preventative vaccination programmes,” Thayer said: “The sector has a proven track record here and should, in time, become the natural home to administer all adult vaccinations.”

The CCA and the chains Boots and Tesco were the only pharmacy organisations to have an input into the report.