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Electronic Prescription Service

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) sends electronic prescriptions from GP practices to pharmacies. Eventually EPS will remove the need for most paper prescriptions.

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About EPS

EPS allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser (such as a pharmacy) of the patient's choice. This makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and staff.

The benefits

The benefits of EPS are that:

  • prescribers can process prescriptions more efficiently and spend less time dealing with prescription queries
  • dispensers can reduce use of paper, have improved stock control, and provide a more efficient service to patients
  • patients can collect repeat prescriptions from a pharmacy without visiting their GP, and won't have a paper prescription to lose

Find out about the benefits of EPS for prescribers and dispensers.

If you're a patient, you can find more about electronic prescriptions on the NHS.UK website.

EPS benefits estimator

The data used to develop the EPS benefits estimator was collected when EPS prescriptions were generated by prescribers in GP practices only. EPS is now used in additional care settings, such as integrated urgent care.

Because the processes for generating and dispensing integrated urgent care prescriptions can be different, the EPS benefits estimator is no longer available as a direct resource on our website.

Please contact your local NHS Digital implementation and business change team to understand the benefits for your care settings - epsimplementation@nhs.net

Bulletins

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Contact details

Electronic Prescription Service
Email: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk

Related news

Further information

internal About the EPS Prescription Tracker

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Prescription Tracker allows staff working at prescribing and dispensing sites to check the status of a prescription.

internal Electronic Prescription Service – Phase 4

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Phase 4 enables EPS to become the default for prescribing, dispensing and reimbursement of prescriptions in primary care in England

internal Statistics

Download the latest statistics, GP planned go-lives and more

internal Other NHS staff and implementers

Find guidance about the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), along with resources related to switching on and implementing the service.

internal Utilisation workshop toolkit

Access a toolkit developed by NHS Digital to help local Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) leads plan and deliver EPS Utilisation Workshops in your area.

internal Deployment and utilisation hub

We're responsible for recording data related to the deployment of systems and services across health and social care systems in England. You'll find links to management information dashboards containing this data.

internal Dispensing system performance data by supplier

NHS Digital has been working with pharmaceutical dispensing system suppliers to make their Electronic Prescription Service more transparent and allow contractors to make informed decisions.

internal EPS: Guidance for developers

We've published a range of developer guides and materials for the Electronic Prescription Service, including information on apps, identifiers, APIs and service integration.

Last edited: 25 March 2021 11:22 am