NHS CRS
Putting pharmacists at the forefront of healthcare.
The NHS Care Records Service solution, NHS CRS, will revolutionise the way the NHS operates in the UK, providing much faster and safer treatment for patients needing medical assistance. The CRS will mean all patient records will exist within one central database, which can be accessed by the different medical bodies within the UK. Patient-centred care requires information to follow the patient so that its available wherever and whenever needed. The NHS CRS will enable this to happen with patient information becoming mobile. This means, for example, that if someone from London is injured while on holiday in Bournemouth, they can be treated by a local doctor who will have immediate access to the patient's medical records. The doctor can be informed of any current medical conditions, drug allergies and previous treatments, ensuring that treatment can begin immediately. The NHS’s Care Records Service represents a significant move towards truly holistic care.
At present GPs, pharmacists, hospitals and specialists all have individual records detailing specific patient’s healthcare. Clearly, the move towards an integrated system represents a huge step forward for the NHS, and heralds significant changes in the way all healthcare professionals will operate in this IT-enabled future. Whether it is within a pharmacy, GP surgery or hospital, NHS CRS will help to provide secure information about patients at the point of care, ensuring clinicians have vital information to hand when making their diagnosis.
NHS CRS is central to the Government’s plans for the development of community pharmacies. The ability for pharmacists to access the records will increase prescribing efficiency and enable them to carry out effective medication reviews. Pharmacists will be able to input medicines information into the record which will help doctors design appropriate medication regimes and aid the tracking of adverse incidents.
Once again, information technology is pointing the way towards tomorrow’s pharmacy. In just a short time, the way pharmacists deal with their patients and fellow healthcare professionals will have changed dramatically. The challenges ahead offer tremendous opportunities for community pharmacists to enhance and expand the services they deliver, bringing huge benefits. With the NHS modernisation plans already developed, pharmacists must act quickly if they are to reap these benefits – or risk being left behind by the technological revolution sweeping through the healthcare arena.
