Pharmacy process

It is usual for the driver to deliver medication and copies of the Medication Administration Record (MAR) to the care home.

The GP practice sends the request via the electronic prescription service (EPS). Pharmacy staff can be given proxy access in the same way as care staff if the practice, and resident, wish to grant it. This is agreed at a local level.

Yes, you can for TPP and EMIS. Microtest has some proxy access functionality and Vision has none.

Proxy access for care homes would be recommended.

Repeat dispensing doesn’t suit all care homes and in some cases would mean operating more than one ordering process.

Electronic repeat dispensing (eRD) would not be recommended for care homes as it means the home is not able to manage medication for the residents. Many residents also fall outside the criteria for eRD.

One of the benefits of the system is that this doesn’t happen often. You can check which items were requested on the system. If you do have missing items, however, you can either use the notes section, email, or call practice if urgent.

As part of this project, community pharmacists should be engaged to address this issue as they can be part of the cycle that may need to be reviewed. The care home does not have access to the EPS tracker.