INVATECH HEALTH GAINS NHS ACCREDITATION FOR ELECTRONIC PRESCRIPTION DISPENSING SOFTWARE

Electronic prescription dispensing is set to reach England’s most remote corners after a new piece of software, designed in Bristol, was accredited by the NHS.

Titan PMR has become the first viable software to be given full release authority by the NHS to provide electronic prescription services (EPS) to dispensing doctors – surgeries with an additional licence to dispense medicine on site.

More than 1,000 of these doctors, who provide a vital service to almost 10 million people in rural communities, can now o er patients the same level of benefits and e ciencies that electronic prescriptions have brought to pharmacies around the UK.

Currently written paper prescriptions from dispensing doctors account for around seven per cent of the total prescriptions in England – around 6.5 million each month.

“Until now dispensing doctor surgeries have basically been in the digital dark ages when it comes to dispensing medicines,” said Tariq Muhammad, a tech entrepreneur and CEO of Bristolbased Invatech Health, which developed Titan PMR.

“This accreditation means that doctors can spend less time pushing paper and more time speaking to people and helping with their problems.

“For the NHS, digital dispensing of medicines is like taking away the final blockage from a dam that’s ready to burst. We are already administering one in 20 prescriptions in the country and that figure’s growing every day.

“We just want to help bring the benefits of technology to every sector where medicines are dispensed. Everybody wins – patients, our communities, the NHS, pharmacists and now dispensing doctors too.”

Laura Wright is the manager of Stoneleigh Surgery in Milnthorpe, Cumbria, where Titan was tested in a dispensing doctor surgery.

“With multiple surgery locations, each of which are able to generate prescriptions, we were keen to start working with EPS,” she said. “Paper prescriptions would often not be available when patients came into the dispensary but now they are immediately available at the surgery.

“There’s an increased level of safety, and it’s much easier to find what stage the patient’s medication is at.”