Cegedim Rx has received authorisation from NHS Connecting for Health to deploy its system Pharmacy Manager for connection to the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).
Simon Driver, managing director of Cegedim Rx, said: “A planned deployment strategy is the next major step towards EPS and this is a significant phase for our company.
"As the brand leader in pharmacy systems we naturally have the most customers to install and this is a significant logistical operation which needs careful planning. Nevertheless the depth and breadth of the Cegedim group should mean that we are well capable of delivering this."
Pharmacy Manager is used by 2100 of the 10,000 pharmacies in England and the company says it will now finalise its EPS deployment strategies. Cegedim Rx has two other pharmacy management systems. Nexphase is used by approximately 1200 pharmacies and was granted authority for deployment in August and Mediphase which the company expects to receive accreditation later this year.
Latest accreditation tables on the CfH website show that AAH and Cegedim are the only commercial suppliers to have so far received authority to roll-out their EPS software along with the in-house system used by Lloyds Pharmacy. Authority to rollout is “pending” for four other commercial suppliers.
Pharmacists have been paid a total of £2600 in two allowances to prepare for the introduction of release one of EPS and can claim £200 a month once they meet three criteria that will put them in a position to start using EPS, that is that have the compliant software installed, an N3 connection and smartcards. The allowances were underspent by more than 50% in the last financial year because of the slower than expected roll-out of EPS.
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