TransScript ETP project to close

TransScript was formed by PharMed, an organisation that has been committed to developing secure open industry standards for ETP since 1997. The PharMed project, one of three ETP pilots run nationally, will also close on 31 December.

Three privately funded ETP pilots, run by Transcript, Pharmacy2U and Flexiscript, were set up in 2001 to test different models of delivering ETP. Commissioned by the policy arm of the DoH, they pre-dated the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the NHS, which took over responsibility for ETP this summer.

Originally due to complete in December 2002 they were extended by the DoH until the end of June 2003. The Flexiscript pilot lead by Schlumberger-Sema suspended live transactions in April 2003.

“Over the past six years, PharMed and TransScript successfully completed two ETP pilots, developed an in-depth knowledge of prescribing and dispensing processes and helped put ETP on the map at a national level,” said TransScript’s operations director Martin Strange.

He added: “The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is now firmly established, and this month the Government has once again reiterated its commitment to 50% ETP implementation in England by 2005, followed by full rollout during 2006/7.”

The Transcript operations director concluded: “We now look forward to seeing how NPfIT will implement ETP on a national level within these ambitious timescales.”

The decision to end the three ETP pilots which were serving 5000 patients by the summer of 2003 was criticised ‘ETP Pilots Ended for 5,000 Patients’ (E-Health Media, 3 July 2003) by the consortia running the pilots and GP supporters.