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I support the move towards a quality and outcomes pay framework (QOF) for MURs rather than simply rewarding quantity. But such a service should not be implemented without a clear [...]

It's Halloween and strange and scary things are happening. But we're still short of witches and wizards - or at least someone with a clear agenda and a bit of [...]

Supply chain problems and the use of automation to free pharmacists' time were the hot topics on the agenda on day two of C+D's Conference in Birmingham last week, reports [...]

Get ready to embrace technology. Whether you're a gadget whizz or more comfortable with books than bytes, it's time to bring community pharmacy up to date with robotics and online [...]

Pharmacist Jim Liptrot is at the cutting edge of IT development as his pharmacy was chosen to pilot release 2 of the electronic prescription service. Zoe Smeaton talks to the [...]

Organisations say they won't commit until they see pilot results Zoe Smeaton Pharmacy bodies have refused to say whether they think the electronic prescription service (EPS) will bring benefits for [...]

Without rigorous testing, the EPS 2 programme has the potential to push the pharmacy supply system over the edge in a single week, leading multiples have warned. If technology slowed [...]

Trials of release 2 of the electronic prescription service (EPS) are going well, C+D understands, but the pilot has been heavily delayed. The findings came as C+D made an exclusive [...]

System suppliers have hit back at claims they are not responding well enough to faults reported with EPS. Simon Driver, managing director at Cegedim Rx, said the company's analysis of [...]

EXCLUSIVE Pharmacy bodies say system suppliers must do more to resolve problems Zoe Smeaton System suppliers are not responding well enough to pharmacy contractors reporting IT faults, according to the [...]

However complex it might be, technology is meant to make our lives easier. It should be a `behind the scenes' enabler, helping us do our job more efficiently. So why [...]

Cegedim Rx is hoping its Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) software will be accredited for release 2 of the service by the end of February. MD Simon Driver told C+D Connecting [...]

Is your business maximising the benefits of IT? Martin Jones of Positive Solutions describes how simple technology developments can give you a competitive edge Technology is becoming an increasingly integral [...]

They ease workload, boost turnover and never take a day off sick. So why don't robots rule drug dispensing in community pharmacies? Max Gosney reports Chess, space exploration and building [...]

Community pharmacies highlighted 'unresolved problems' with EPS release 1 James Clegg Pharmacy stakeholders are set for emergency talks with ministers over the viability of the electronic prescription service (EPS), C+D [...]

Industry bodies have questioned the Department of Health's estimate of the benefits the electronic prescription service (EPS) will bring to pharmacy. A DH report assessing the impacts of the service [...]

WINNER: Multiple pharmacy category, 2008 Platinum Design Awards As Murrays' latest pharmacy in Bridgenorth bags the company another design plaudit, Paul Knight explains the fashion philosophy behind the business. Max [...]

The first double robot dispensary in UK community pharmacy has been launched in Kettering. The ARX tandem speedcase, which can process up to 600 items an hour, has been installed [...]

The electronic prescription service (EPS) is behind schedule, with Connecting for Health missing three key deployment targets, a public spending watchdog has warned. EPS has 'some way to go' before [...]

Rowlands has rolled out `contactless' payment to all its stores, allowing customers to use cards without signing or entering a pin. Managing director Kenny Black said the technology would benefit [...]

An IT lead for a PCT approached me at a meeting last week and asked me why some of the pharmacies in our area were claiming their ETP allowance? He [...]

Getting smartcards and payment for N3 connectivity out of PCTs were two difficulties encountered by Weldricks when ETP was rolled out across its 53 pharmacies, according to managing director David [...]

Dispensing `robots' are becoming a cost-effective option for pharmacies dispensing 10,000 or more items a months, suggests George Romanes, who has been using a Consis A2 machine that cost #50,000 [...]

Practice Digital system photographs patients for ID Lloydspharmacy has rolled out an automated methadone dispensing system in eight pharmacies. The Methasoft system uses digital photography to ID patients and has [...]

Pharmacy is on the cusp of a technological revolution - for the first time access to electronic patient records is a distinct possibility. Yet there is notable resistance, and it [...]

With the increasing emphasis on error detection, near miss reporting and formalised dispensing procedures, the elimination of the most common and potentially dangerous dispensing error - dispensing label mismatching - [...]

Connecting for Health has accredited Positive Solution's Analyst system for the electronic prescription service. Positive Solutions' commercial manager, Martin Jones, estimates nearly 85 per cent of pharmacies in England will [...]

Many pharmacists are not IT savvy and lack knowledge of everyday software, according to the RPSGB. The Society warned of a huge skills gap when it comes to filing CPD [...]

IT DH and Society highlight technology skills gap The government wants to see more pharmacies investing in the electronic prescription service, an industry figure has said. Susan Grieve, principal pharmaceutical [...]

Pharmacy must stand and deliver, says Lloydspharmacy's pharmacy director Andy Murdock Ailsa Colquhoun Pharmacists need to see medicines use reviews as business as usual, believes Lloydspharmacy pharmacy director Andy Murdock. [...]

PSNC EPS preparation takes toll on operating surplus Almost half of last year's operating surplus has been spent on implementing the new contract and preparing for the electronic prescription service, [...]

As robots start to replace manual dispensing, Bob Gartside responds with why your pharmacy is best kept in human hands There are some ways in which dispensing robots do not [...]

The Brigstock Pharmacy in Croydon went ETP live last May. Proprietor Beran Patel tells Max Gosney how the technology has fared The ETP system sits in silence as the team [...]

Gnasher would have been a better name for the dispensing robot that nearly took Nader Siabi's arm off, rather than the placid sounding Henry (C&D, January 21, p5). As a [...]

With 2006 due to see the rollout of the DoH's electronic transmission of prescription service, Steve Marriott provides a timely guide for pharmacists on the information superhighway Since its inception [...]

Guidance on deploying the ETP service and choose and book in GPs surgeries has been issued by NHS Connecting for Health. The joint rollout will be advantageous to all stakeholders, [...]

Pharmacy Locums UK has snubbed the iPod and Xbox 360 in favour of a mobile pharmacy for its members this Christmas. The vehicle, purchased through charity World Vision, will deliver [...]

Contractors will welcome the news this week that Connecting for Health is aware of key issues around the implementation of ETP, such as the direction of e-prescriptions and the capacity [...]

From Monday, Controlled Drug prescriptions can be typed or printed, provided they carry a handwritten signature. PSNC says the legislative change will increase the number of legally complete CD prescriptions [...]

Avian flu, veterinary medicines and work pressures in community pharmacy were among the 26 topics discussed at the RPSGB's practice committee meeting held on November 1. Chairman Sid Dajani said [...]

Abuse of pharmacy nomination when the electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) service is launched should not be a problem, a senior NHS IT director has said. The Department of Health [...]

Alliance Pharmacy has applied under the revised control of entry regulations to set up an internet pharmacy from its office in Feltham, Middlesex, Hounslow PCT has confirmed. However, the chain's [...]

Details of the fees pharmacy contractors will receive for ensuring their IT equipment is ready for electronic transfer of prescriptions have been released. Pharmacy contractors in England will receive #1,300 [...]

Rowlands pharmacy has installed a new IT system into its 380 strong retail pharmacy chain. ProScript, a windows based dispensary management tool from Rx systems, will help pharmacists meet the [...]

ETP is a mainstream business issue, not just a matter for IT experts We were surprised that Richard Granger's prediction that ETP would threaten `bricks and mortar' pharmacies was only [...]

Hospital pharmacies are significantly less likely to use computers for ordering than community pharmacies, despite their greater use of dispensing robots. Less than half of hospital pharmacies have an automated [...]

Pharmacists will struggle to deliver the new contract without using integrated IT systems, a senior representative of a pharmacy IT supplier has said. IT is fundamental to pharmacy's new roles, [...]

As a Dr Who fan I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the new series with daleks that have finally overcome their main design fault by developing the ability to go [...]

Product authentification at the point of dispensing is possible but the full security benefits will not be realised until barcode technology is improved, a trial has concluded. The trial, run [...]

A growing number of pharmacies are installing robots as efficient dispensing becomes increasingly necessary. But what do we actually know about them? Vikki Miller talks to the people at the [...]