Pharmacists to get access to EPS but not CRS

Pharmacists are to be registered for access to the NHS spine to enable electronic transmission of prescriptions but will be excluded from access to the NHS Care Records Service for the time being, latest guidance reveals.

The guidance sent out to primary care trusts by the Department of Health and NHS Connecting for Health states that community pharmacists will be required to follow a modified process to that used by NHS workers such as GPs and hospital staff. Those pharmacists already issued with smartcards allowing NCRS access should have them rescinded, the guidance says.

The restriction of access to the Electronic Prescribing Service (EPS) alone is intended to allow time for public consultation on the concept that pharmacists will eventually have some access to patient records through the NHS Care Records Service.

A spokesperson for NHS Connecting for Health told EHI Primary Care: “Access for pharmacists relates exclusively to the Electronic Prescriptions Service. Access to NHS CRS will come later, subject to the consultation promised under the Department for Health’s ‘Vision for Pharmacy in the new NHS’.”

The guidance states that the responsibility for registering community pharmacists rests with PCT registration authorities. The registration process will follow the same principles covering full access but be limited to the EPS and also only cover pharmacists and locum community pharmacists rather than other staff working for a pharmacist.

Once issued to a pharmacist any staff within the pharmacy can use the EPS smartcard although CfH recommends that pharmacists maintain a log recording all users of the card so that an audit trail exists for EPS transactions.

Pharmacists will also be required to sign a different user policy for EPS, form EPS01, rather than the acceptable user policy signed by all other NHS staff, RA01 form. This acceptable use policy was criticised earlier last year by GPs as being unsuitable for independent contractors and GP representatives agreed to help rewrite it with Connecting for Health.

The guidance says that some early adopter EPS pharmacists may already have signed form RA01 but says that this must be rescinded during release one to underline the difference in user policy between EPS and NCRS.

The technical guidance from CfH adds: “It should be noted that the conditions of use of EPS Release 1 differ greatly to those for the NHS Care Records Service and that the RA and those responsible for the information governance arrangements in your PCT need to be aware of the differences.”

The guidance says that later this year pharmacists may need to be registered for release two of EPS which may require registration for the NCRS.

Release one of EPS involves paper and electronic systems working side by side. Digital signatures for prescriptions, nomination of pharmacies and electronic reimbursement will only be available with release two expected sometime during the financial year 2006/7.

Links

DH guidance: registration of community pharmacists for release one of the EPS