Request

I am told that despite electronic prescriptions being widely used in primary health the last stage requires the pharmacy to print the prescription for that to be sent to you. The doctor then went onto say they had received feedback from you not to include sticky notes on the prescriptions as they interfere with your scanning process.

One of the great impacts of electronic prescribing is the decreased waste and paper needing to be used and disposed of in a confidential way. It seems absurd that the only reason millions of prescription are being printed are so they can be transferred to you and scanned.

If true this would have an extreme financial and environmental impact on the taxpayer and country respectively.

Please can you verify if this is a true representation of your process. If true I will consider passing this information onto reputable national newspapers in the hope that the publicity might lead to change.

For the avoidance of any doubt I am making this request as a general enquiry and under the freedom of information act. All the details are in the public interest to know especially as they relate to taxpayer money and the environment.

Response

I am writing to advise you that following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that the information you requested is held by the NHSBSA.

The decision to print a copy of an EPS (Electronic Prescription Service) prescription rests solely with the dispensing contractor and is not mandated by any NHSBSA process. We do not require printed EPS prescriptions to be submitted for payment, as reimbursement is processed using the electronic message.

In cases where a prescriber issues a paper FP10 prescription (which accounts for approximately 9% of prescriptions received), we advise against attaching sticky notes. This is because they can interfere with our scanning systems and hinder efficient processing.

Advice and Assistance

Having reviewed your request, I believe it is possible that NHS England may hold further information relevant to your enquiry. They can be contacted at:

NHS England

PO Box 16738

Redditch

B97 9PT

Telephone 0300 311 22 33

Email: england.contactus@nhs.net

Web http://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/foi/

Following the announcement on 13 March 2025 regarding the disbanding of NHS England, please be assured that at this time they can be contacted for information as normal.

More information can be found here: NHS England

Publishing this response

Please note that this information will be published on our Freedom of Information disclosure log at:

https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/dataset/foi-02830

Your personal details will be removed from the published response.