Pilot projects to allow general medical practitioners to send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies are to be funded by the National Health Service, the Secretary of State for Health (Mr Alan Milburn) announced on June 30.
Speaking at the NHS Confederation conference in Glasgow, Mr Milburn said that he was allocating £60m of the additional funding for the NHS announced in the budget to modernising NHS technology. As well as the electronic prescription pilots, money would be spent on connecting all GPs to the NHSnet by 2002 and allowing GPs to book admissions and receive laboratory test results on-line. Content material would be purchased for use as part of the National Electronic Library for Health.
Of the £60m, £53m is to be spent on connecting GPs and updating equipment in surgeries and £7m on the prescription pilots and National Electronic Library for Health content.
In a press statement issued on June 30, the Department of Health said that the electronic prescription pilots would mean that "pharmacists will be able to prepare prescriptions prior to collection, meaning a faster service for patients when collecting their prescription and giving pharmacists more time to advise patients on how to take their medicines properly". It added that the system would also help to prevent errors in dispensing and reduce fraud.