Patients across Wales who use medical devices and equipment given on prescription are benefitting from a more secure and efficient service, following a significant step forward in the roll out of innovative software.
All Dispensing Appliance Contractors (DACs) in Wales have now successfully tested technology enabling them to use the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), which makes the prescribing process easier and safer for patients and healthcare staff. About 26,000 patients in Wales get medical equipment such as stoma and urology products from DACs.
Salts Healthcare, working in partnership with pharmacy system supplier Optum (formerly EMIS), is the latest appliance contractor to achieve assurance to use EPS in Wales. Salts joins Nightingale, Respond and Fittleworth, who successfully tested software developed by Clanwilliam, in being able to receive electronic prescriptions.
Sharon Thomas, Dispensing Operations Manager at Medilink – the dispensing arm of Salts Healthcare – described EPS as bringing ‘huge benefits’ to patients who get essential devices and equipment on prescription.
Patients whose GP practices are EPS-enabled can choose, or nominate, a DAC to receive their prescription electronically from the surgery. This means that the paper prescription form no longer needs to be posted, resulting in a more efficient service. EPS is free, convenient and offers greater security as prescriptions can be tracked from the practice to the dispenser, meaning they can’t be lost.
Laurence James, Head of Digital Medicines Programmes, said: “This is another significant milestone in the roll out of EPS across Wales, which aims to bring safer and more efficient prescribing to every patient. Thousands of people rely on dispensing appliance contractors for essential medical devices and items, and it’s fantastic to see that all DACs in Wales have now successfully tested their EPS-enabled software.”
Salts has served patients in Wales for more than 30 years and has recently moved its branch from Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan to Cardiff. Sharon Thomas said: “We were the first DAC to be EPS-ready in England many years ago. We had already seen a huge amount of prescriptions coming in electronically there, so moving to EPS in Wales was a smooth process.
“We have worked closely with the programme team in Wales to follow a very structured checklist to prepare for the transition, and the understanding we already had gave us the opportunity to prepare and train the team. We also sent a letter and a leaflet to all patients ahead of accreditation, using the list of GPs who were going live with EPS.
“A lot of patients phoned to understand what it meant to them and could quickly see the huge benefits. Without paper, people are unsure that there is a prescription involved at that point, so we explain that nothing is really changing other than it’s more secure, it can be faster and is auditable. This puts their mind at rest and patients buy into that more streamlined and secure way of receiving their prescription.”
EPS is a key part of Digital Medicines Programmes, managed by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) on behalf of Welsh Government.
Patients who want to use EPS do not need to go online or use a laptop or smartphone. They simply tell staff at their chosen pharmacy or dispenser that they would like to use the service.
To find out more visit https://dhcw.nhs.wales/eps
Photo caption, l-r: Joanne Debono, Medilink Cardiff Dispensing Centre Manager, and Jo Bois and Sharon Burr, Medilink Customer Care Coordinators.
