EPS reaches 70% milestone
Electronic prescriptions now account for over 70% of all prescriptions issued in England for the first time ever.
The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) saves the NHS time and money by reducing the amount of paper processing required by GPs, pharmacists and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
The NHSBSA's EPS support team has been working with primary care staff to maximise EPS use. The team provides bespoke support and guidance through dispensing dashboards, workshops, webinars, phone calls and one-to-one training sessions. They've also developed a comprehensive range of resources to help primary care providers increase their use of EPS.
EPS could save millions of pounds that could be re-invested in patient care. This is especially true for patients who get regular or repeat prescriptions, using Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) – a process that allows regular medicines to be prescribed for suitable patients in batches of up to a year.
The next step for EPS will be Phase 4 – the point at which EPS will become the default for prescribing, dispensing and processing for all eligible primary care prescriptions in England.
Steve Cottam, NHSBSA Lead Team Manager for Business Improvement, said: “Phase 4 is expected to increase the proportion of prescriptions sent electronically to around 95%. We’ll continue to work with primary care providers to support their use of EPS and eRD and promote best practice.”
For more information and for tools and resources to help you maximise EPS and eRD visit the NHSBSA website or contact nhsbsa.epssupport@nhs.net
Contact Information
Kate Blush
Senior Media and Campaigns Officer
NHS Business Services Authority
Notes to editors
About the NHS Business Services Authority
The NHS Business Services Authority is a Special Health Authority and an Arm’s Length Body of the Department of Health and Social Care which provides a range of critical central services to NHS organisations, NHS contractors, patients and the public. Its purpose is to be a catalyst for better health and its vision is to be the delivery partner of choice for the NHS. For more information about the NHSBSA, please visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk