GP Connect: Access Record

GP Connect (sometimes called NHS Direct Care APIs) is an NHS IT service that lets GP practices and authorised healthcare professionals—including pharmacy team members—securely share and view patient records, appointment details, and other data across IT systems.

GP Connect includes:

• Access Record – lets authorised staff view a patient’s GP-held record
• Update Record – allows staff to send updates to the patient’s GP record
• Appointment Management – enables sharing and managing appointments

Read more:

• Our page about GP Connect
• GP Connect – NHS England (Digital)

Access Record is a key part of GP Connect. It includes three tools:

•  Access Record: Structured – shows a patient’s record in a coded, machine-readable format. This helps systems process and import data to support better care.
• Access Record: HTML – provides a read-only view of the patient’s record in a simpler format
•  Access Document – gives access to unstructured documents held by the patient’s GP practice, such as clinical letters from other care settings

Services IT suppliers (i.e. those supporting the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) services) integrate Access Record: Structured into pharmacy systems.

NCRS (SCR) vs Access Record: Structured

Benefits
Access Record could offer several advantages for pharmacy teams:

• Less time switching between systems—reducing workload
• Structured, filterable information—not limited to the past 12 months
• Better clinical decisions—supporting safer, more effective care
• Joined-up care—verifying patient history and easing pressure on patients
• Improved patient safety—thanks to more accurate, up-to-date information

Registered pharmacy professionals can view patient records directly within the consultation page of their CPCF IT system module.

Smartcards and Care Identity Service 2 provide role-based access controls. There’s no need to copy and paste patient details—like NHS numbers—between systems when using the services IT system.

Pharmacy professionals will be able to access three areas of the patient’s GP record:

• Medications
• Uncategorised items – includes data that doesn’t fit into standard GP Connect categories (e.g. weight, height, BMI, pulse rate, smoking status, alcohol intake, blood pressure readings)
• Investigations

Pharmacy teams should continue using NCRS and other sources (e.g. ShCR) for additional clinical information such as allergy data.

Data flows
Information will only appear in the pharmacy system if:

• Access Record: Structured is enabled in the GP IT system
• The patient has not opted out of sharing their record

Not all GP practices have Access Record: Structured switched on yet. Some patients may also choose not to share their information. If data doesn’t appear when you click the Access Record: Structured link, use alternative sources like NCRS/SCR, ShCR, ask the patient directly, or contact the GP practice.

GP practices have a process to enable Access Record when needed. See NHS England’s Digital Transformation of Primary Care Slide Pack for details.

GP Contract changes for 2025/26
Following consultation in 2024/25, DHSC and NHS England confirmed that from 1st October 2025, all GP practices must have enabled GP Connect functionality—specifically Access Record: HTML and Access Record: Structured.

If pharmacy professionals believe they should have access but don’t, they should contact their IT supplier.

Please read our [GP Connect webpage] and the section on data use responsibilities.

Prescribing system rollout status

Pharmacy system rollout status

Community Pharmacy England comments on the rollout

“The GP Connect Update Record is a welcome and crucial advancement, supported by Community Pharmacy England. Interoperability plays a critical role in patient safety and reducing the workload for healthcare staff.”

“The rollout of Access Record: Structured by pharmacy IT suppliers and NHS England marks another milestone for the sector. It represents a crucial step toward equipping pharmacies with integrated, real-time access to essential patient information, enabling more informed and timely patient care. It will reduce the need for pharmacy professionals to email or call GP practices to check relevant information.”

• Digital Transformation of Primary Care Slide Pack for pharmacy teams and GP practices
•  [Our GP Connect webpage] (see also NHS England’s page about GP Connect)
• Access Record (NHSE’s TD)