The implementation of the electronic prescription service (EPS) presents an enormous logistical challenge; and in recognition of that its deployment in England has been phased over time. In order for the service to operate, primary care prescribing and dispensing IT systems in England will need to be upgraded and connected to the service. Users will need to be registered to operate the service, issued with smart cards to give them access and be trained to enable them to utilise the service to its full potential. Patients will need to be aware of the changes and the additional benefits offered by the new service.
GP surgeries can only use EPS once they have a software upgrade from their system supplier, and the PCT has received authority from the Secretary of State to authorise electronic prescriptions. Pharmacies are free to use EPS as soon as they have received the software upgrade from their system supplier. Of course most pharmacies will see few EPS Release 2 prescriptions until their local PCTs have authorised the surgeries to start using the system.
Progress with rollout has been slow, but we would advise members to, at the very least, familiarise themselves with their PMR supplier’s and local PCT’s planned timetable for rollout.
PCT rollout
Before authorising GP practices to use Release 2 of EPS, PCTs have to apply for Secretary of State approval. Once a PCT has this approval, it has the ability to rollout Release 2 in line with local plans.
List of PCTs that have secured Secretary of State approval (click for full list)
1. Berkshire East Primary Care Trust
2. Berkshire West Primary Care Trust
3. Bexley Care Trust
4. Birmingham East & North Primary Care Trust
5. Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus
6. Blackpool Primary Care Trust
7. Bolton Teaching Primary Care Trust
8. Brent Primary Care Trust
9. Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust
10. Bromley Primary Care Trust
11. Bury Teaching Primary Care Trust
12. Central and Eastern Cheshire Primary Care Trust
13. City & Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust
14. County Durham Primary Care Trust
15. Croydon Primary Care Trust
16. Cumbria Teaching Primary Care Trust
17. Darlington Primary Care Trust
18. Devon Primary Care Trust
19. Doncaster Primary Care Trust
20. Dorset Primary Care Trust
21. East Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust
22. East Riding of Yorkshire Primary Care Trust
23. East Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust
24. Gateshead Primary Care Trust
25. Greenwich Teaching Primary Care Trust
26. Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust
27. Hastings and Rother Primary Care Trust
28. Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust
29. Hertfordshire Primary Care Trust
30. Hillingdon Primary Care Trust
31. Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust
32. Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust
33. Islington Primary Care Trust
34. Kirklees Primary Care Trust
35. Leeds Primary Care Trust
36. Leicestershire County & Rutland
37. Liverpool Primary Care Trust
38. Manchester Teaching Primary Care Trust
39. Medway Primary Care Trust
40. Newcastle Primary Care Trust
41. Newham Primary Care Trust
42. NHS Bradford and Airedale
43. NHS Central Lancashire
44. NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent
45. NHS Hammersmith and Fulham
46. NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale
47. NHS Kensington and Chelsea
48. NHS Lambeth
49. NHS Lincolnshire
50. NHS North Staffordshire
51. NHS Walsall
52. NHS Western Cheshire
53. NHS Westminster
54. North East Essex Primary care Trust
55. North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus
56. North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust
57. North Tyneside Primary Care Trust
58. Northamptonshire Teaching Primary Care Trust
59. Northumberland Care Trust
60. Nottingham City Primary Care Trust
61. Nottinghamshire County Teaching Primary Care Trust
62. Oldham Primary Care Trust
63. Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust
64. Redbridge Primary Care Trust
65. Rotherham Primary Care Trust
66. Salford Primary Care Trust
67. Sheffield Primary Care Trust
68. Solihull NHS Care Trust
69. Somerset Primary Care Trust
70. South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust
71. South Tyneside Primary Care Trust
72. Southwark Primary Care Trust
73. Suffolk Primary Care Trust
74. Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust
75. Tameside and Glossop Primary Care Trust
76. Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust
77. Trafford Primary Care Trust
78. Wakefield District Primary Care Trust
79. Waltham Forest Primary Care Trust
80. Warrington Primary Care Trust
81. West Kent Primary Care Trust
82. Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust
83. Worcestershire Primary Care Trust
The Department of Health has announced that the PCT approval process has been suspended. This is because the actual uptake of EPS is currently so low. So after 1 May 2011, there is likely to be a significant period before other PCTs are given approval to rollout EPS.
PMR rollout
The following PMR systems have received authorisation from Connecting for Health to upgrade their customers to EPS Release 2:
- AAH Proscript Link
- Cegedim Pharmacy Manager
- Cegedim Nexphase
- Helix Health QicScript PMR
- Lloyds CoMPASS
- RX Systems Proscript
- Positive Solutions Analyst
Updated information on the progress of other PMR systems is available at:
http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/eps/library/stats/dismay12.pdf
Further information
IT troubleshooting guide
Connecting for Health has produced a brief IT troubleshooting guide, which can be tailored with individual contact details:
Download the IT troubleshooting guide
EPS service availability updates
You can register to receive text or email alerts when there are incidents affecting the central components that support EPS. This includes EPS itself, the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) and the Spine.
Simply download and complete the NHS CFH service incident alert request form and email it back to cfh.servicebridge@nhs.net and NHS CFH will send you an alert when the component is unavailable and again when normal service is resumed.
System architecture
If you want to understand a bit more about how EPS works, a plan of the various components of EPS is available at:
http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/eps/prescribing/business/components
EPS Bulletin
Connecting for Health has published a bulletin about EPS:
http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/eps/news/epsbulletin/srospecial2012.pdf
EPS Release 2 Deployment Map
This Electronic Prescription Service Release 2 deployment planning tool identifies every GP practice, community pharmacy and dispensing appliance contractor (DAC) in England. The information is provided to assist primary care trusts, GP and community pharmacies and their IT system suppliers to plan the deployment of Release 2 of the Electronic Prescription Service.
