Increased use of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) offers benefits for patients, GP practices and pharmacies.
As part of our work to help realise these benefits for the NHS, we recently wrote to GP practices across the country to highlight their current level of EPS use alongside their potential level of use.
An example of an EPS use graph
How these figures were calculated
- Current EPS items – the average number of items prescribed electronically per month between April and June 2017 (11,204 items in this example)
- Potential EPS items – the average number of items per month which could be prescribed electronically (including any items that were prescribed electronically) between April and June 2017 (18,657 items in this example)
- Not eligible for EPS – the average number of items per month which could not be prescribed electronically between April and June 2017 (536 items in this example). This includes:
- Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs
- Personally administered items
- FP10MDA prescription form items
- Dispensing doctor items
- Any items dispensed by Alderney Pharmacy, Guernsey Pharmacy, Isle of Man Pharmacy, Jersey Pharmacy, Scottish Contractors and Welsh Contractors.
To work out the number of items that may be eligible for EPS but not currently prescribed electronically during this period, practices need to subtract the ‘Current EPS Items’ figure from the ‘Potential EPS Items’ figure (e.g. 18,657 – 11,204 = 7,453).
If you have any questions about the content of your letter or how the NHSBSA can help you to increase your EPS use, email your contact details to nhsbsa.pharmacysupport@nhs.net.