Electronic Prescription Service

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser, such as a pharmacy, nominated by the patient. This makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and healthcare workers.

EPS is already widely used in primary care with over 95% of all prescriptions now being produced electronically.

EPS is not a clinical prescribing system. It is only responsible for managing the workflow of prescriptions from prescribers to dispensers.

Click the play button to watch a short EPS video which lasts 1 minute and 26 seconds. 

EPS is for patients, prescribers and dispensers. It is widely used in primary care, but its capability has been expanded to secondary and community care.

This covers:

• acute hospital trusts
• community hospital trusts
• mental health trusts

Primary care is for use in England and Wales. Secondary care is for use in England but not currently available in Wales. Users must access it indirectly via their acquired prescribing or dispensing system suppliers.

EPS is secure, healthcare workers must be suitably authenticated and authorised to access it. For example, to update a record, a healthcare worker must be strongly authenticated via NHS Care Identity Service 2 (NHS CIS2).

EPS offers 2 different prescription tracking services.

Prescription tracking for healthcare professionals

The EPS clinical prescription tracker allows healthcare professionals at prescribing and dispensing sites to check the status and location of a prescription. We are currently working on an improved version of this and will post progress updates here as we continue development.

Prescription tracking for patients

We are also working on a national prescription tracking service for patients. This will allow patients to access information about their prescriptions online, and track the status and readiness of their prescribed items.

Benefits of EPS include:

• prescribers can process prescriptions more efficiently
• dispensers can reduce paper use and improve stock control
• dispensers reduce the risk of dispensing errors compared to hand-written prescriptions
• patients can collect repeat prescriptions from a local pharmacy without visiting their GP

Find out more about the benefits of EPS for prescribers and dispensers.

EPS is not strictly mandated, but it is strongly recommended for use by prescribing and dispensing services.

Organisations may benefit by working collectively as Integrated Care Systems (ICS) when delivering EPS.

Details on how to use EPS depends on your role.

For more information on how to use this service refer to the following pages:

• Electronic prescriptions for prescribers

• Electronic prescriptions for dispensers

• Electronic prescriptions for patients

This service is live and has been in active use since 2005.

It is current used by prescribers and dispensers in a variety of care settings including:

• primary care
• secondary care
• community care

A billion prescription items were dispensed via the Electronic Prescription Service in 2022, equating to over 95% off all items dispensed.

EPS is a platinum service, meaning it is available and supported 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

These services must be used alongside EPS to create a functioning prescribing or dispensing system.