As part of the Scottish Government’s quick response to COVID-19, they have agreed that Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians based in community pharmacy can be granted access to the NHS's Emergency Care Summary (ECS) system, where up-to-date summaries of patients’ repeat meds and any acutes in the last month are stored. It is hoped that this access to a patient’s ECS will greatly help Pharmacists with urgent supply prescription requests, especially with patients who do not regularly attend the pharmacy.
It should be noted by all users of the ECS records that all accesses to patient information are closely monitored and audited and any suspicious accesses will be investigated, and may result in disciplinary processes or even prosecution.
You should not be accessing ANY patient records, even for yourself or family members, until you are dealing with an actual patient and have gained their consent to access their records for urgent clinical need. ALL ACCESS IS MONITORED!
Before you use ECS, you should also refer to the ECS related documents including the User Guide, information about the access monitoring system called FairWarning, and public facing posters which your pharmacy should display for Data Protection/Information Governance reasons. These documents are also accessible via the links below.
FairWarning Guidance for Pharmacists/Managers
Public-facing Pharmacy Posters
TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
- Click here to go to the ECS login page if you already been given access.
- If you wish to apply for new ECS access in NHS Lothian, please contact us at cpdt@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk to obtain an Application Form and guidance on how to apply. Before applying, you must have a currently active NHSmail email account (ending in nhs.scot) or a Health Board email account (ending in nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk) in order to receive your ECS credentials securely.
- If your ECS access has fallen inactive due to not being used in the last 90 days please contact us at cpdt@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk to obtain an Account Reactivation Form.
- For password resets where you still remember your Username, you should select the ‘Forgotten Password’ option on the ECS login screen, and a new password will be sent to your NHSmail account.
- For password resets where you don’t remember your Username, you can call our eHealth team Monday to Friday 9am-5pm on 0131 536 5050.