PSNC issues practical guide on release 2 of EPS
Tokens to supplement
electronic prescriptions
As part of the EPS, there will be two types of token — prescription
and dispensing.
Prescription tokens will be printed by prescribers,
for example, when patients ask for a copy of the prescribed information,
when the patient has not nominated a pharmacy or when the prescriber
is authorising a repeat prescription.
Dispensing tokens will be
printed by pharmacy staff, for example, to collect a patient’s
exemption declaration, where a patient pays for their prescriptions
or when
a pharmacy is out of stock of an item and needs to direct a patient
to a different pharmacy.
These tokens are not legal prescriptions
but can be scanned to retrieve the electronic prescription from
the spine. |
Detailed guidance on how release 2 of the electronic prescription service will work has been published by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.
The guidance for community pharmacy contractors in England gives practical
information about all aspects of the new service, including patient nomination
of pharmacies, electronic repeat dispensing, cancellation of prescriptions
and electronic claims for reimbursement.
The PSNC emphasises that pharmacy system suppliers have a degree of flexibility
in how they develop their software, so it is essential that contractors
provide feedback to their suppliers in order to influence the development
of systems that best support the dispensing process.
The guidance explains that, initially, it will only be possible for a
prescriber to issue an electronic NHS prescription where it is being
sent to a patient’s nominated pharmacy. However, once the majority
of pharmacies are operating release 2 of the EPS, it is expected that
electronic prescriptions will also be issued to patients who have not
nominated a pharmacy.
How supplementary clinical information, usually included on the right-hand
side of a prescription form, will be passed to patients where there is
no paper document is being tested during initial implementation of release
2.
The guidance says that it will be mandatory for community pharmacies
to pass on some non-routine information relevant to clinical care, including
patient- or medication-specific instructions, the patient’s review
date and when the final repeat prescription authorised by the prescriber
is dispensed. Other information, such as a list of repeat medicines,
should be provided to patients at their request.
“A decision on whether this solution is adopted for national roll
out will be subject to negotiations, including talks on funding, between
the PSNC and the Department of Health,” the guidance says.
Further releases of software are expected in the long term, which will
provide support for minor ailments schemes and medicines supply through
patient group directions, says the PSNC.
The guidance is being sent to all pharmacies in England as a supplement
to this month’s Community Pharmacy News.
(PDF 850K)
In addition, NHS Connecting for Health has published a leaflet for healthcare
professionals that provides a high-level
overview of release 2 of the EPS. This leaflet will be supplemented by more detailed guidance on individual
business processes in due course, it says.
National clinical
leads Pharmacist
Sharon Hart has been appointed national clinical lead for medication
management by NHS Connecting for Health. Ms Hart is one of eight
new national clinical leads who have been appointed to build on
the current work being done to involve their colleagues in the
National Programme for IT.
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EPS release 2 symbol
 NHS
Connecting for Health has created
a symbol to help patients identify
which community pharmacies and GP practices are operating
the electronic prescription service.
The new symbol has been developed
because GPs and pharmacies will go live with the service at different
times, starting from this summer. The symbol will be featured on
a sign made available to sites on the day they go live.
Three different
formats — an A5 window sticker, A4 poster and A5 counter-top
sign — will be available. |
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