Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions (ETP) Pilots
(last updated 05/11/2003)

Following an announcement from the Department of Health, the ETP Pilots officially ended on the 30th June 2003. To facilitate the closure of the Pilots, it was agreed that the PPA would continue to receive and process electronic messages up to the end of September 2003.

All three pilots have now ceased to operate. During the period of the Pilots, over 100,000 prescribing and dispensing messages were transmitted between GPs, community pharmacies and the PPA.

The Pilots were independently evaluated by the Sowerby Centre for Health Informatics (SCHIN). One of the key findings was that it is technically viable to electronically send and receive secure prescribing and dispensing data. Result of SCHIN's evaluation can be found at www.schin.ncl.ac.uk/ETP.

The National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT), under the direction of Richard Granger, is now responsible for the implementation of a national service for ETP. More information on NPfIT can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/InformationTechnology/National ITProgramme/fs/en.

The PPA would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in the Pilots.