Patients in Rhyl are the first in Wales to benefit from a new
electronic prescription service, which allows GPs to send
prescriptions securely online to the patient’s choice of
community pharmacy, without the need for a paper form.
The new service, launched today [Friday 17 November], makes the
prescribing and dispensing of medicines for patients and
healthcare professionals easier, safer and more efficient.
For the first time, GPs no longer have to physically print, sign
and hand a green paper prescription form to the patient or wait
for it to be taken to the pharmacy. Instead, the prescription is
sent electronically from the surgery via the IT system to the
patient’s chosen pharmacy - even without the patient needing to
visit the surgery to pick up a repeat prescription form.
As well as patient benefits, moving to electronic prescriptions
will save up to 40 million paper forms from being printed and
handled each year.
The new service will be gradually rolled out across Wales from
January 2024, and is part of a wider commitment to introduce
digital medicines and e-prescribing in all hospitals and primary
care in Wales.
Visiting the first GP practice and community pharmacy to use
electronic prescriptions, Rhyl’s Lakeside Medical Centre and
Wellington Road Pharmacy, Minister for Health and Social Services
Eluned Morgan MS said,
“We are at the start of an exciting digital transformation that
will completely change the way prescriptions are managed in
primary care, streamlining a process that has not altered
significantly in decades.
“Electronic prescriptions will make a huge difference to the NHS
and patients and is a major milestone in our journey towards
digitising every prescription in every healthcare setting across
Wales.”
“I would like to thank the staff at both the GP practice and
pharmacy for their support as the first adopters of the
Electronic Prescription Service technology and I hope we can
explore how other primary care settings can use digital
prescribing.”
Andrew Evans, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Wales, said:
“Digital innovation is key to improving the prescription service
for patients and our hard-working pharmacists and GPs. This is
transformational change that will have a significant impact on
the way we work and introduce a real change to current processes.
It is critical these changes are introduced safely, which is why
this live phase of testing is so important. I am grateful to the
hardworking teams at both the GP practice and pharmacy who are
the first to adopt digital prescriptions in primary care and to
everyone involved in delivering this important work for people
and primary care practitioners across Wales.”
Professor Hamish Laing, Senior Responsible Owner for the Digital
Medicines Transformation Portfolio, said:
“Today is a big achievement and a key milestone on our journey to
digitalise prescriptions and medicines management in Wales. We
have seen a real desire and commitment from GPs and community
pharmacists to adopt this and from the software companies
involved to make the necessary changes to their systems as soon
as possible.
“The support from colleagues in NHS England and NHS Wales Shared
Services Partnership has also made a major contribution,
incorporating digital reimbursement to pharmacies and putting
security measures in place.
“Our collaborative approach, placing people at the centre and
working closely with clinicians, patients and industry suppliers
ensures we are delivering a service that meets the needs of all
who use it.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Notes
The launch of electronic prescriptions in Wales is the result of
20 months of work by the Digital Medicines
Transformation Portfolio (DMTP).
The Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (DMTP) aims
to ‘make the prescribing, dispensing and administration of
medicines, easier, safer, more efficient and effective for
patients and professionals through digital.’
It brings together the programmes and projects that will deliver
the benefits of a fully digital prescribing approach in all
care settings in Wales. The Portfolio coordinates four areas of
work, all of which have connections with each other: Primary
Care Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), Secondary Care
electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA),
Patient Access (through the NHS Wales
app) and a Shared Medicines Record. The
DMTP is hosted by Digital Health and Care Wales.
Find out more on the
Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio website.
