How does the Welsh Government aim to improve the use of data and technology in pharmaceutical services?
The Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (DMTP) was established in September 2021 and has made significant progress to implement the electronic prescription service (EPS) in primary care, where the first electronic transfer of prescriptions through EPS is expected before the end of 2023, to roll out electronic prescribing in hospitals, and to create a shared medicines record enabling the seamless transfer of people’s medicines information in real-time between primary and secondary care settings and between NHS organisations.
Our Pharmacy Innovation Fund is supporting pharmacies and their IT system suppliers to operate in a truly paperless way, able to digitally receive, process and track prescriptions, and notify patients when their prescription is dispensed, building on capability within the NHS Wales App. The fund is a major step forward and is helping to community pharmacies to better utilise digital technology in their day to day work, creating opportunities for them to work more efficiently, and improving patients’ experiences.
The NHS Wales App will help further optimise community pharmacy processes and enhance the experience of pharmacy users by enabling prescription tracking, so people know when their prescription has been received by the pharmacy and when it is ready for collection.
In secondary care, the all-Wales electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) multi-vendor procurement framework was published by Digital Health and Care Wales on 1 November. The framework allows NHS organisations to select from a national approved list of inter-operable systems to digitise the prescribing and administration of medicines on every ward and in outpatient setting, in every hospital in Wales. All health boards are now in the pre-implementation stage of the programme to implement their chosen system as quickly and safely as possible. The first two health boards are expected to award a contract under the framework before the end of the current financial year and will begin deployment in Spring 2024.
The Welsh Government continues to fund the ongoing development of the Choose Pharmacy IT system which is used in 99% of community pharmacies in Wales and enables pharmacists providing NHS commissioned clincial services to create digital consultation records, to access the Welsh GP Record, and to send electronic summaries of consultations to a patient’s GP. Service data from Choose Pharmacy supports robust evaluation of services and has enabled NHS Wales to demonstrate the value of commissioned services and inform future service development. The Community Pharmacy Digital Applications Board provides strategic direction to further enhance the use of technology within the community pharmacy network.