Dispensing

NHS Connecting for Health is responsible for introducing an Electronic Prescription Service to which prescribers and dispensers in primary care in England will be connected. By 2007, every GP surgery (for use by the GPs, nurses and other prescribers working from the surgery) and community pharmacy and other dispensers will have access to the service.

In due course, prescribers working from other locations such as walk-in centres or dental practices, will also be included. There are also plans to include hospitals, to enable hospital prescriptions issued for dispensing in the community to be included.

This service will enable electronic prescriptions to be generated, transmitted and received so that pharmacists and other dispensers can dispense against them. Over time, dispensers will also be able to submit these electronic prescriptions to a reimbursement authority (currently the Prescription Pricing Authority) in order to claim payment. In many, and eventually most, cases, electronic prescriptions will replace paper ones.

This website provides information on how the service is being introduced, and the changes that will take place. It will continue to be expanded to provide additional detailed guidance, particularly for those involved in implementing the changes.

The Electronic Prescription Service is part of NHS Connecting for Health's Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) programme, which will also include, in the longer term, the integration of the Electronic Prescription Service with the NHS Care Records Service.

For further information about the Electronic Prescription Service, read our factsheet (PDF, 458kb) and communications toolkit.

(29/3/06)