There are a number of criteria that need to be met before Release 2 can be used to benefit patients.

The PCT must have Secretary of State Directions, the prescriber and the dispenser must be enabled to use the service with a suitable, approved system and patients need to nominate an enabled dispensing contractor to begin to use the service.

Secretary of State Directions

Before EPS Release 2 can be deployed in GP practices the local PCT needs to be listed in Secretary of State Directions to allow prescribers to digitally sign prescriptions.

There are 151 PCTs and you can see which ones have Secretary of State Directions and which ones are in the notice period on the map on the EPS Release 2 national rollout page.

Dispensing contractors do not need Secretary of State Directions and can implement EPS Release 2 as soon as they have a compliant system.

EPS system suppliers

In order to operate Release 2 safely, suppliers systems must pass through a compliance process. Once each system has successfully completed technical compliance it is permitted to begin further testing in a live environment, known as 'initial implementation'.

This includes preparing documents to support the initial implementation such as a site readiness checklist. The system is then tested in this live environment and any issues are addressed.

Once the system has successfully passed through all stages it is then approved for national rollout.

Dispensing systems

There are eight dispensing supplier systems; their progress towards full rollout approval for EPS Release 2 is updated monthly.

Other useful information

For more information on relevant aspects of EPS follow the links below:

• Using EPS
• Business Continuity when using EPS
• EPS Release 2 Smartcards
• Frequently Asked Questions