What is a Summary Care Record?
A Summary Care Record (SCR) is a short summary of your medical records. It tells other health and care staff who care for you important information about the medicines you take, any allergies you have and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had.
Giving access to your SCR to health professionals away from your usual GP (for example in an emergency, at out-patient clinics or when you’re on holiday) means that they can give you a better patient experience and ensure you are given the right medicines and treatment at the point of care. Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your SCR.
Your SCR also includes your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS number to help identify you correctly.
More information about how the NHS uses Summary Care Records.
As a patient registered with a GP in England, you will automatically have an SCR created unless you opt out. To do so, you need to let your GP practice know by filling in and returning a summary care opt out form.
Regardless of your past decisions about your Summary Care Record consent preferences, you can change your mind at any time.
Children under 16 years
A patient or guardian can request to opt out children under 16. Ultimately it is the GPs decision whether to create the records or not, because of their duty of care to the child. If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 16 and feel that they are able to understand, then you should make this information available to them.
Updated 17.3.21