New Medical Database Saves Kent Lives

31 March 2010, 09:39 | Updated: 31 March 2010, 09:50

Heart's been finding out how lives in Kent are already being saved because of a new medical database that's been set up.

Summary Care Records give information on what medication a patient is currently taking, or has taken in the past, and what they're allergic to.

They can be accessed on a computer and used by doctors who are treating patients out of normal practice hours and with no access to their full medical records.

Around 120,000 people in Medway already have a Summary Care Record and the idea is to role the scheme out across the whole of the country.

You should get a letter telling you about it when your GP surgery is ready to transfer your details onto the system. The transfer of data will be done automatically unless you opt out of the scheme.

Dr Simon Collins is from Medway On Call Care based in Chatham who see patients when GP's surgeries are closed. He told Heart how the programme is working so far.

Listen to Dr Simon Collins from MedOCC