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Electronic prescriptions for prescribers

Find out about using the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), the benefits it offers to prescribers, along with advice and support on using the service.

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The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser (such as a pharmacy) of the patient's choice. This makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and staff.

EPS for primary care 

EPS allows the transmission of prescription information for digitally signed prescriptions from primary care prescribers to the NHS Spine, from where they can be downloaded by dispensers including community pharmacies, dispensing appliance contractors, and dispensing doctors.  

Read more about EPS in primary care.

EPS for secondary care

EPS is available in secondary care for outpatient prescriptions to be sent electronically to community pharmacy.

Read more about EPS in secondary care.

EPS for community health and other care settings

EPS functionality is available to care settings such as extended access hubs, community, out of hours and urgent care settings. This is dependent on the care setting system supplier functionality.

Read more about EPS in different care settings.

Using EPS as a prescriber

Here are some resources to help you get the most out of using EPS.

Some of our guidance information is on the FutureNHS collaboration platform - log in with your existing account, or register first.

Nominating a dispenser

Patients that use EPS can choose where their prescriptions are sent to - this is called nomination. A patient’s nominated dispenser is set on the patient’s demographic service (PDS). 

Patients must be fully informed about EPS before their nomination can be set on the system.

Read more about nominating a dispenser.

Prescribing to patients with a nominated pharmacy in Wales

Your patients can choose to collect their prescription items in Wales. Check which dispenser your patient has nominated. To find pharmacies in Wales, you can search using the pharmacy name and town.

At this time, you cannot search for Welsh pharmacies using a postcode or make one-off nominations. We are working to add these features as part of our future improvements to the service.

Generating and signing an electronic prescription 

Prescribers can apply electronic signatures to prescriptions. The signature is unique to individual prescribers and applied using the user's smartcard credentials.

Read more about generating and signing an electronic prescription.

Electronic repeat dispensing

Find out about electronic repeat dispensing and how you could benefit from using it. 

Read more about electronic repeat dispensing.

Cancelling an electronic prescription

You can cancel the whole electronic prescription or individual item(s) on the prescription at any point until it's dispensed to the patient. A reason for cancellation is requested and then a cancellation message is sent to EPS.

Read more about cancelling an electronic prescription.

Prescribing and dispensing tokens

Paper copies of electronic prescriptions are called 'tokens'. They act as a hard copy of the details contained within the electronic prescription. Tokens will need to be made available under certain circumstances.

Read more about prescribing and dispensing tokens .

EPS in integrated urgent care 

EPS allows prescribers in integrated urgent care settings to send electronic prescription to community pharmacies, removing the need for paper prescriptions.

Read more about EPS in integrated urgent care.

NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices and prescribing systems

The NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d) provides a standardised reference for medicines and medical devices for use by different clinical systems.  

Read more about the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices and prescribing systems.

Using EPS for patients with both a pharmacy and appliance contractor nomination 

Patients who use a Dispensing Appliance Contractor (DAC) for some of their items can set a DAC nomination, as well as their pharmacy nomination. 

Using EPS for patients with both a pharmacy and appliance contractor nomination.

Benefits of EPS for prescribers

Prescriptions are processed more efficiently
  • Sign individual or multiple prescriptions electronically.
  • During face-to-face, telephone or video consultations, prescriptions can be sent to the patient's nominated pharmacy, reducing footfall in the prescriber's location as patients collect their prescription from the pharmacy instead.
  • No need to post prescriptions, saving time.
  • Less chance of prescriptions going to the wrong dispenser or getting lost.
Spend less time dealing with prescriptions
  • Standardised prescription information reduces the number of queries from dispensers.
  • Improved prescription accuracy reduces the chances of patients receiving the wrong medication. 
  • Electronic prescriptions can't be lost, reducing the risk of duplicate prescriptions being created. 
  • No need to prepare and sort prescriptions ready for collection. 
Have greater control over prescriptions
  • Prescriptions can be cancelled at any time until they have been dispensed, and replacements can be sent electronically.
  • Visibility of the current status of prescriptions via the NHS Prescription Tracker.

Contact us

What else would you like to see here? If you have any ideas on how to improve our website please get in touch. For more information about EPS, contact:

Enquiry Point of contact
EPS implementation queries (for NHS organisations) Digital Partnering Hub
Email: [email protected]
EPS onboarding enquiries EPS Onboarding and Assurance team
Email: [email protected]
EPS support enquiries (live services) EPS Live Service Management Team
Email: [email protected]
Any other enquiries Digital Medicines Programme
Email: [email protected]

Further information

internal EPS clinical prescription tracker

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Prescription Tracker allows staff working at prescribing and dispensing sites to check the status of a prescription.

internal Reimbursement model guidance

Our reimbursement model guidance seeks to support API consumers with populating prescriptions with the necessary details needed for reimbursement.

external
internal Electronic Prescription Service data

This interactive dashboard shows implementation, utilisation and nomination statistics for EPS nationally and down to region, integrated care systems (ICS), places (formerly CCGs) and site level.

Last edited: 3 April 2025 4:24 pm