Have a system trainer or knowledgeable PCT staff on-site to floor walk so users can try the service with confidence and any issues they find can be resolved straight away.

Use the deployment map to check for sites that have gone live in your area and consider your own go live date.

Scan Release 1 prescriptions. This will help when adding nominations as it means that the patient's personal medical record (PMR) will already be updated.

Train up all your patient facing staff members including receptionists and delivery drivers to explain EPS to patients and collect nominations. This will lead to a bigger uptake in nominations and more EPS Release 2 usage.

Promote EPS in the local media and engage with patient groups to build up an appetite for EPS with the public.

Visiting sites before, during and after go-live will lead to smooth handling of electronic prescriptions.

Sites should develop clear processes for raising issues. Staff should know who to contact and how. A contact list with supplier helpdesk, RA and PCT contact details pinned up on the wall works well. You could also use the troubleshooting guide (for dispensers). (PDF, 82.0kB)

When booking a locum pharmacist to work in an EPS Release 2 pharmacy check they have a Release 2 Smartcard and have attended an EPS training session to ensure electronic prescriptions can be processed.

Provide pharmacies support on how to deal with electronic repeat dispensing as soon as possible to give them confidence in using it.

Download prescriptions at regular intervals throughout the day to help with planning and preparing prescriptions. A good time to do this is before you send off your daily orders or prior to collecting paper prescriptions from the GP practice.

Submit your top tips

There are also a number of user experiences on video from some of the initial implementer PCTs.

It is important to note that these tip are the views of people working with EPS Release 2 at the first of type sites. All top tips received are reviewed to ensure they are valid, however, these tips may not be applicable in every case or at every site.

Submit your own top tips for others to benefit from.

The full table of top tips (XLS, 164.5kB), which is regularly added to, is organised by subject area.