EPS underspend due to slower rollout
Funding to pay pharmacists for using the electronic prescriptions service was underspent by more than 50% in the last financial year, pharmacy representatives have revealed. Only £22m out of the £58m allocated for EPS allowances by the Department of Health was spent in 2005-6 but the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) is confident the money […]
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Tablet tests
How did three E-Health Insider readers get on with new tablet PCs in their work? A GP, a dermatologist and an EPR manager review the Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook P1510.
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InPS and TPP get go-ahead on electronic prescriptions
Two of the major GP system suppliers have been given the go-ahead to roll-out their electronic prescription service (EPS) software to practices. In Practice Systems and TPP have been granted authority for widespread deployment of their software after the software was tested at initial implementation sites. So far only one commercial pharmacy system supplier, AAH, […]
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EPS passes million scrips milestone
More than a million prescriptions have been transmitted via the Electronic Prescription Service, Connecting for Health has announced. The agency said the achievement of the electronic transmission of a million prescription messages is a significant milestone in the deployment of the service. Tim Donohoe, Connecting for Health (CfH) group programme director, added: “Whilst there is […]
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Pharmacists told no deadline for EPS
Pharmacy representatives have told pharmacists that there is no deadline to implement the electronic prescription service (EPS) in fresh advice issued this week. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), the negotiating body for pharmacists, and the National Pharmacy Association which represents more than 6,000 pharmacy owners, have received increasing numbers of calls from pharmacists concerned […]
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NPfIT could ‘transform’ drug reaction reporting
Reporting of adverse drug reactions in England could be transformed by systematic collection through the National Programme for IT, according to the British Medical Association. The association’s new report, Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions: a guide for health professionals, says that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) represents a “significant opportunity” to systematically gather information on […]
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QicSCRIPT upgraded for medicine use reviews
Pharmacy software solution QicSCRIPT has been upgraded with appointment scheduling and patient identification systems so that pharmacists can deal with Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) under their new contract. QicSCRIPT’s new system allows pharmacists to scan their records and identify the most appropriate candidates for review. The patients are then contacted to have their medication checked […]
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Students trial Mentor as teaching aid
Pharmacy students at Liverpool’s John Moores University (JMU) will be the first in the country to use the Mentor decision and knowledge support tool from primary care software supplier EMIS. The Mentor system, already available to 55% of GPs in England, will be trialled as a teaching and reference aid by students and lecturers at JMU’s […]
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PCTs register a third of pharmacists for smartcards
Around one in three community pharmacists have been registered to use a smartcard to use the electronic prescription service (EPS) according to Connecting for Health but pharmacy representatives and businesses are continuing to raise concerns about the speed of rollout. Connecting for Health has published its first figures on the registration of pharmacists for smartcards […]
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Scots ahead
Fiona Barr looks at how electronic summaries of GP records are already in operation in Scotland, accessible by out of hours providers and with A&E departments soon to be added.
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