A third of GP practices are not yet ready to provide prospective records access to patients, as they ‘still have the incorrect settings’, NHS England has warned.
The commissioner has told practices they will need to offer automatic access to prospective records via the NHS App by 31 October, as per the changes to the GP contract, following several delays.
In an update to primary care staff last week, NHS England said that there will be ‘no central automatic switch-on’ and that the contract ‘specifically requires’ practices to configure their systems to allow patients to access online information entered onto their medical record.
The update said: ‘Practices will be contractually required to provide online access to new record information by 31 October unless exceptions apply.
‘Please remember there will be no central automatic switch-on. Practices need to enable access by opting into the last remaining enablement date (EMIS) or following the self-enablement process (TPP).
‘The contract specifically requires practices to configure their computerised clinical systems to allow patients the facility to access online information entered onto their medical record.
‘A third of practices still have the incorrect settings – you can find guidance online.’
Last month NHSE urged EMIS practices to complete an ‘opt-in form’ in order to have records access enabled automatically before the deadline.
Earlier this year, the BMA was considering a legal challenge over the imposed contractual requirement to offer patients access to prospective records.
However, last month the union abandoned its plans for a challenge against NHS England due to lack of financial resources and legal strength.
In May, a London ICB expressly advised GP practices not to switch on automatic patient access to prospective records ahead of the 31 October deadline.
Patients were initially set to be given automatic access to their prospective patient records through the NHS app from 1 November last year – starting with EMIS and TPP, and with other smaller suppliers to follow at a later date.
But in October last year, suppliers confirmed they would not yet switch on automatic patient access to their records via the NHS app due to safeguarding concerns.
SystmOne practices saw the functionality turned on in February although some practices were doing bulk opt-outs of their patients.
At the time, Pulse revealed that GP practices that were doing so had been asked to report to NHS England and ICBs.
Or else what?