One in 10 community pharmacies have so far missed out on £200 by not sending a representative to free government-approved Summary Care Record (SCR) briefing events, PSNC has said.

Once a pharmacy has gone live with SCR, it is eligible for a one-off £200 SCR allowance from the government. Contractors must start accessing SCR by 31 March to “trigger” the payment, PSNC said.

A representative from each pharmacy must have attended an NHS Digital approved training event before they can access the digital records.

Pharmacies that have not yet sent a representative to a training event should do so in the final round of events, which are now being organised, PSNC said.

NHS Digital will hold training events in the Midlands, East, Lancashire and Yorkshire throughout January and February, it said. Approved locally organised events will be held in London, Halton, Essex, Leeds and the South.

Quality Payments Scheme

Half of English pharmacies currently use SCR, NHS Digital announced in December.

Proven access to SCR is one of the criteria pharmacies can meet to earn back money they will lose from the funding cuts through the Quality Payments Scheme – a points-based system rewarding pharmacies with cash for meeting certain requirements.

Meeting the SCR objective rewards pharmacies with £640 under the scheme, which was introduced as part of the DH’s 2016/17 funding package.

Pharmacists interested in attending one of the training events should visit PSNC’s website for more information, it said.