|

|
For Contractors |
New link!
Guidance on Recording Interventions
from the
RPSGB
|
|
Cambridgeshire |
Contractual timeline
Public Health Campaign July 08 - Chlamydia Screening
Prescriptions Intervention Audit report
Smartcard renewal in
Hunts & Cambridge areas
Peterborough
Contractual timeline
Healthy Eating Campaign June 08 - evaluation
form.
Contract monitoring 2008 |

Last updated:
14th July 2008
| |
|
Electronic Prescription Service and Electronic Transmission of
Prescriptions (EPS/ETP) |
Contacts for EPS Smartcard Problems
All calls relating to smartcard issues should be logged with Anglia
Support Partnership Helpdesk
email: aspitservicedesk@asp.nhs.uk
Tel: 0800 996996 8.30-5pm (Monday to Friday)
See the flow chart which helps you to identify the route for dealing
with EPS problems:
Cambs Flow Chart
Peterborough Flow Chart
PSNC EPS/ETP information,
click here
EPS Release 1: PSNC Key Messages for
Pharmacy Contractors
Approximately 70% of community pharmacies are now Release 1 technically
enabled and over 45m prescription messages have been sent via the
Service. System suppliers are currently working to upgrade their systems
for Release 2 and at least one pharmacy system supplier is now known to
have entered the Release 2 compliance testing process. To ensure a
smooth transition to Release 2, it will be important for pharmacies to
have deployed Release 1 and to have used the system where possible to
identify any problems.
Key Message 1: Contractors should move
to deploying Release 1 if they have not already done so
The main benefit of Release 1 is that the pharmacy contractor will
have put the necessary infrastructure in place to support much quicker roll out
of EPS Release 2. Potential operational benefits include efficiencies in
processing repeat prescriptions received in a batch, for example through a
repeat collection service as well as providing pharmacy contractors the
opportunity to collect patient NHS numbers in their local systems. An
individual’s NHS number will be required to nominate patients during EPS Release
2. As outlined in the Drug Tariff, if a pharmacy has not deployed Release 1 of
the Service by a date, yet to be determined, PCTs will be able to reclaim the
£2600 one-off EPS Allowance which was paid to pharmacies in 2005/06. It is
likely that the Release 1 payment cut-off date will be announced later this year
with at least three months notice provided. Key suppliers are currently
reporting an average of 6 – 8 weeks to arrange installation of connectivity and
necessary upgrades. Therefore there are benefits in contractors placing orders
now to ensure they can have the system installed at a time convenient for them.
Key Message 2: Contractors should use their
Release 1 system where practical to identify any problems in advance of the EPS
becoming business critical in Release 2.
Although a large proportion of community pharmacies are now technically enabled,
the service is only being used to dispense less than 1% of daily prescription
volume. It is essential that pharmacies use the system where practical to ensure
that any problems, such as the speed of the system, are identified before the
service becomes business critical.
Key Message
3: Contractors should report any problems to their pharmacy system supplier
If pharmacy contractors identify
problems with their EPS Release 1 enabled system, for example if there are
delays in downloading messages (for example, more then 10 – 15 seconds), they
need to report this to their system supplier so that this can be investigated
fully and action can be taken to resolve the problem. Reports from contractors
suggest that performance varies between pharmacy systems. If a pharmacy
contractor is concerned that the supplier is not taking action to resolve the
problem or if the problem persists, they should report this to the EPS Lead at
the PCT who can escalate the issue to the CfH Helpdesk.
EPS R2 Initial Implementer Sites
Announced
Five PCTs have been selected to go live from 1st October 2007 with
another twelve chosen as a second wave to go live no earlier than 1st
January 2008.
The Release 2 stage is made up of a transition phase aiming to make the
move away from a parallel paper and electronic service to one where
electronic prescriptions predominate. Finally, once a majority of users
are able to operate the transitional service, the final phase (full ETP)
will be implemented. At this stage the default position will be the
issue of a digitally signed prescription with hand signed paper
prescriptions only issued if there is a specific reason to do so. During
the transition phase PCT proposed sites will be compared against agreed
criteria, details of which can be found in the
Pharmacy IT section of the PSNC website. Information is also
available on the NHS
Connecting for Health website.
|