Pharmacy professionals should record details of the reason for accessing the patient’s SCR on every occasion. It is also good practice to keep records of consent and consultations. 

Every time a pharmacy professional accesses an SCR, they will be asked to confirm that they have a legitimate relationship with the patient and patients can request to see who has accessed their SCR at any time. Such records will not only help show patients why the SCR was accessed, but will also provide an audit trail in the event that the pharmacy is investigated with regards to suspected inappropriate access to SCRs and/or patient complaints.

Reflective exercise

• Can you think of any time in the past two weeks where it would have been beneficial to access a patient’s SCR?