As an NHS doctor, I have been concerned for many years that there has been no electronic system for primary care prescriptions in Wales. For too long, prescription arrangements in Wales have lagged behind other parts of the UK, with no option other than traditional paper prescriptions, generally either picked up in person, posted or sent via fax. I consider this to be one of the very many inefficiencies contributing to the current meltdown of the NHS in North Wales.
I have made repeated calls for the Welsh Government to adopt the tried, tested and refined Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) technology in place in England. It has been difficult to understand why NHS Digital’s EPS system, which first began its roll-out in England 17 years ago, has been resisted by Ministers in Cardiff Bay for so long and its implementation is therefore long overdue.
I have written to the Welsh Health Minister on several occasions requesting a commitment to its introduction in Wales. I have also raised the matter at a face to face meeting. I welcome that these efforts have begun to pay off, with recent announcements suggesting that Wales is finally to adopt NHS Digital’s EPS system.
However, it would be a missed opportunity to implement this system without ensuring interoperability of patient contact data between primary and secondary care in Wales, and also with health and social care services in England.
Therefore, last year I sent a further letter to the Health Minister asking whether the introduction of the EPS system will involve full implementation of the NHS Spine, which supports the IT infrastructure for health and social care in England, joining together over 23,000 healthcare IT systems across 20,500 organisations.
Adopting the NHS Spine would help overcome problems in the future, such as those we witnessed early in the pandemic in relation to identifying patients for shielding, and their correct postal addresses, as it would allow all levels of the NHS to access up-to-date contact data, including that held for Welsh patients by NHS bodies within England. It would also improve safety by allowing the sharing of Summary Care Records between England and Wales.
In the letter I also called for the Health Minister to prioritise North Wales in a rapid rollout of EPS, and offered any support I could through my position at Westminster to assist the implementation of the system in Wales.
In her reply, the Welsh Health Minister, Eluned Morgan, quoted her speech on the topic in which it was suggested that rollout to a small number of GPs and pharmacies in Wales is to commence during summer 2023.
She also stated that using the NHS Digital EPS, “necessitates the linked implementation of the NHS Spine into Wales”. However, the letter goes on to state that, “the intent is not to synchronise Welsh patient data over this for NHS England access. The use of the Spine will allow pharmacies in Wales to dispense English generated prescriptions, and vice-versa.”
Disappointingly, the response also stated that the Welsh Government’s implementation of the National Data Resource (NDR) “negates the need for the [NHS] Spine”, which crucially means that patients in Wales could miss out on its significant associated benefits of data synchronisation and others mentioned above.
I have posted both my letter to the Minister and her subsequent reply at the bottom of this page.
I intend to continue holding the Welsh Government to account on this issue to ensure that the rollout of EPS in Wales is rapid and that the promises made by the Welsh Health Minister are kept.
I will continue to call on the Welsh Government to pursue full and seamless work alongside the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that patient safety is not compromised by unnecessary and inefficient duplication and divergence.
