In Release 1, patients still receive a paper prescription in parallel with the electronic transmission of the prescription message. The paper prescription remains the legal prescription in all circumstances. Initial implementation of Release 1 began in March 2005; over 90% of pharmacy and GP sites have now deployed EPS Release 1.

Deploying EPS Release 1

– An EPS compliant pharmacy system accredited as such by the NHS Digital. – Appropriate network connectivity to be able to operate the Electronic Prescription Service. – Staff operating the service who are registered users and have been issued with smart cards and PIN numbers under NHS England’s Registration Authority arrangements. (NB: During R1, it is only necessary for pharmacists to have smart cards or alternatively have a ‘premises’ card).

Using EPS Release 1

There are a number of reasons why pharmacies should use Release 1 of the EPS service where practical:

Through using the service, pharmacies can ensure that any remaining problems such as connectivity issues can be identified and resolved before the service becomes business critical in Release 2. If problems are identified in using the service, these must be reported to pharmacy system suppliers, ensuring the call reference number is recorded to support followup.

You can also use Release 1 prescriptions to reduce the time spent entering patient demographic information into your PMR system.

EPS Release 2

The focus now is deployment of Release 2.

Related resources

• Release 1
• Practical Advice on Using Release 1
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