Fifteen million items in Wales dispensed via the Electronic Prescription Service
The dispensing of fifteen million prescription items using the digital service comes nearly a year after reaching the one million milestone, showing the substantial growth and roll out of the programme.
EPS enables prescriptions to be sent electronically from a GP practice to a pharmacy or dispenser, making it convenient and safer for patients, as well as more efficient for healthcare teams. By removing the need for the traditional green paper form to be printed and collected from the surgery, it allows staff to track where a prescription is at any time.
Stephanie Taylor, Practice Manager at Lonfa, Glan Conwy and West Shore Surgery, said: “We have successfully moved over to EPS in both or surgeries, Lonfa and West Shore. The transition was great; the team were fantastic and made the move seamless. They are always there to support.
“Half of our patient population in Lonfa are dispensing via our branch surgery in Glan Conwy. We were assured when switching over that there wouldn’t be any issues and they were right. It hasn’t affected our dispensary at all. That continues to run the way it always has while the remainder of patients benefit from EPS.
“It has saved so much time for the staff issuing prescriptions and the signing process is championed by our clinical staff. Much more effective to issue and track the progress of the script once it has been sent to pharmacy. Not to mention the paper saving!”
The first prescription to be sent digitally in Wales was sent in November 2023 from Lakeside Medical Centre in Rhyl, Denbighshire, to the town’s Wellington Road Pharmacy. Over 600,000 patients registered in Wales have now used EPS, with the digital service being adopted in nearly half of GP practices and over 85% of pharmacies in Wales. EPS is on track to be live in 20% of dispensing practices (for non-dispensing patients) by April.
Jenny Pugh-Jones, Programme Oversight Chair of EPS in Wales, said: “It’s incredible to see how far the Digital Medicines Programme has come as we celebrate the remarkable achievement that is the dispensing of over fifteen million prescription items in Wales via the digital service.
“The pace of adoption is a reflection of how hard the EPS team has worked alongside primary care colleagues, community pharmacy and software partners to bring the benefits of this service to patients in every community.”
To find out more visit the EPS webpage