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Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD)

Please note, this project is more than 5 years old. The following information is no longer being updated.

Listen to our latest podcast featuring our Clinical Lead Clare Howard and PCN Lead Pharmacist Kay Green, from the Blackmore Vale Partnership in Dorset. Learn more about how Kay has grown eRD within the PCN and what she considers to be the benefits and challenges.

PODCAST

Electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) enables patients on long-term, stable prescriptions to receive their medication at a pharmacy of their choice for up to 12 months, using the power of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

In response to Covid-19, we supported the wider deployment of eRD across GP practices. This built on work we have been doing to increase the utilisation of eRD in Wessex over a number of years.

The information below describes the benefits of eRD as well as covering details of implementation in GP practices and pharmacies.

Benefits of eRD in response to Covid-19:

Reduces footfall to the GP practice and to the community pharmacy, supporting social distancing
Reduces workload for prescribers allowing better prioritisation of resources
Controlled management of the supply chain reducing the number of temporarily unavailable medicines
Effective eRD can save up to 46 minutes a day of GP time
If 80% of all repeats issued as repeat dispensing, 2.7 million GP hours could be saved

What do patients need to know?

Please click to view information for patients
If you are contacting patients to switch them over to eRD North East Hampshire and Farnham developed a script to support such calls.
Click here for an example of explaining eRD to a patient Dorset CCG crib sheet.
Here is a poster for patients explaining eRD

What do our patients think?

Watch Paul, one of our Patient Partners, discuss the benefits of eRD with Health Innovation Wessex's clinical lead for medicines optimisation, Clare Howard:

“Due to many problems with the buses, plus difficulties obtaining doctors appointments, I find it helpful. Plus I find it saves my GP work and while I can collect prescriptions in person at the pharmacy, thus saving the delivery service time, effort and expense, hopefully helping the NHS, too.” *

*Brooks, C. F. (Study Lead), Matheson-Monnet, C. B., & Argyropoulos, A. Exploring the eRD experiences and views of patient's study, Centre for Implementation Science and Innovation Insight, University of Southampton and Wessex AHSN

You can use this link to access the eRD Handbook (v2 May 2020) for information on how to produce and dispense prescriptions.

Training and Implementation Essentials:

Podcast with Clare Howard and Dr Duncan Pickup from Vine Medical Group. Click here to listen to their discussion of benefits of eRD and how to prevent patients from unnecessarily 'dropping-off' the eRD cycle.

April 2021 communications from NHS England regarding consent regulations for moving patients to eRD.
Outline - explanation of the NHS response needed for eRD during the Covid-19 crisis and support for primary care to deliver that response.
eRD Webinar (May 2020) Support for PCNs and Practices, slide deck and recording.
Short video - elearning training module from NECS provides the complete ‘How to’ guide including SystmOne here, EMIS here and Vision.

Link to eRD Myth Buster to help remove barriers to implementation.
Link to example of local implementation process for eRD and a link to an example of an eRD conversation crib sheet for practice staff developed by Dorset CCG.
Here is the PDSA eRD Checklist
Link to the Helping Practices get started with Repeat Dispensing Guide.
Case Studies: The Project Surgery Case Study can be found here and The Vine Medical Group Case Study is here
List of and Links to all resources here

Meet the team

ERD eLearning for GP Practices and Community Pharmacies

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