October 7th 2026

By Ailsa Colquhoun

DDA26. EPS across the nations

Nearly one in five hospitals state they have “somewhat” enabled the Electronic Prescription Service, with the NHS England aiming to increase this figure to 50 per cent by 2028, DDA Vice Chair Dr Mike Barstow told the 2026 DDA Conference.

As the EPS gathers pace across secondary care in England, and in primary care in Scotland and Wales, the DDA continues to push hard for both set up funding and on costs. These can be substantial, so questions have been raised in Parliament, and it is a GPC negotiating expectation, the conference audience were told.  

In his presentation, which also included an overview of electronic prescribing programmes in Scotland (Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways – DPDP) and in Wales (the EPS), Dr Barstow highlighted the challenges associated with the EPS. These include:

• issues with locally controlled firewalls
• monopoly on sale of IT equipment
• distance selling pharmacies
• funding/ setup costs
• inability to change the body of the script.

Delegates were urged not to turn on the EPS for their dispensing patients, to strengthen the DDA’s case for funding – despite the advantages of the EPS which include OPD and TTO scripts sent straight to dispensary and primarily electronic submission to NHSBSA.

Read the presentation slides

Listen to the audio