Your Options
I am happy to have a Summary Care Record
If you are happy to have a Summary Care Record, you do not need to do anything and we will create a record for you.
I am unsure, or do not want a Summary Care Record
You can choose not to have a Summary Care Record if you want to. If you choose not to have a Summary Care Record, your health records will stay as they are now and you will not receive the benefits we have told you about.
You could have a Summary Care Record but limit the information that health-care staff can access. You can discuss with your GP exactly what information is and isn't shared through your Summary Care Record.
It would be misleading to pretend that there are no risks to information held in the Summary Care Record. But it is also misleading to suggest that not having such a record is risk free.
Substantial work is taking place to modernise the NHS, including the introduction of the Summary Care Record, in order to reduce errors, save lives and improve health outcomes for a great many people.
Modernising and computerising the NHS also brings with it new safeguards to ensure that information in your record is held more securely than in the past.
You should find out what the implications are of choosing not to have a Summary Care Record by reading the information on the following website http://www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/. If after reading this you still think that you do not want to have a Summary Care Record, the website also includes a form for opting out.
Whatever you decide, the NHS will do its best to provide you with safe, efficient care whether or not you have a Summary Care Record.
What if I change my mind?
Whatever you decide, you can change your mind at any time.
If you decide not to have a Summary Care Record but then change your mind, we can still create one for you. If you decide you would like to have a Summary Care Record at a later date please contact your GP surgery.
If you decide after we have created your Summary Care Record that you do not want it, we will 'hide' your record to make sure that health-care staff who try to access it will not be able to see it.
We will only make your record available again if whoever wants to see it asks in writing and if an investigation has found it is necessary.
It is possible to apply to have your record deleted rather than hidden, but that will be difficult if the record has already been used to give you care.
