What is the Electronic Prescription Service?
The Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) programme is responsible for creating and implementing the Electronic Prescription Service and, over time, integrating it with the NHS Care Records Service. The ETP programme is part of the National Programme for IT, which is being delivered by NHS Connecting for Health. It will enable electronic prescriptions to be generated, transmitted and received so that pharmacists and other dispensers can dispense against them. In many, and eventually most cases, electronic prescriptions will replace paper ones. With around 1.3 million prescriptions now being issued every working day in England, and this figure expected to rise by 5% each year, we need to change from a paper-based system to an electronic one which is more efficient, consistently accurate and able to cope with expected further increases in the number of prescriptions. In particular, about 70% of prescriptions are now repeat prescriptions and the new service has been designed to s
The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), which is being developed and implemented by the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) programme, will allow a patient’s prescription to be sent electronically from their GP to a pharmacy. Once fully operational, if a patient wishes to, they may nominate a preferred pharmacy to which their prescriptions can be sent automatically. Over time, dispensers will also be able to submit reimbursement claims electronically to a reimbursement authority.
The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) allows prescribers working in primary care settings to generate and transmit electronic prescriptions using their computer system. The electronic prescription is sent to the Electronic Prescription Service, where it can then be downloaded by a dispenser who has also upgraded their computer system to use the EPS. Soon, patients will have the option to choose, or ‘nominate’ a dispensing contractor to receive their electronic prescription automatically – without the need for any paper.
The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), which is being developed and implemented by the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) programme, will allow a patient’s prescription to be sent electronically from their GP to a pharmacy. Once fully operational, if a patient wishes to, they may nominate a preferred pharmacy to which their prescriptions can be sent automatically. Over time, dispensers will also be able to submit reimbursement claims electronically to a reimbursement authority. • Why is it being introduced? About 1.3 million paper prescriptions are issued every working day in England. With this figure set to rise by over 5% per year, we need to change from the paper-based system to an electronic one which is more efficient and consistently accurate. In particular, about 70% of prescriptions are for repeat medication, therefore the new service has been designed to streamline the current time-consuming system used for dealing with them. • What benefits will it bring? Over
