In response to the COVID-19 pandemic Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which is made up of six CCGs, identified increasing Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) pharmacy nominations to 80% as a priority work stream for the Medicines Optimisation Team (MOT). This was following the NHS England national directive. The Medicines Optimisation Team had been withdrawn from GP practices in March 2020 and were therefore required to find novel ways to address this work stream.
The MOT created a project group with a lead and EPS percentage data was recorded and analysed on a monitoring tracker spreadsheet for the South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula (SESSP) CCG. Data protection impact assessments were completed to allow remote access to GP clinical systems and accuRx software was identified as a solution to contacting patients. This allowed patients to be contacted by text message rather than the traditional letters.
Two practices in the South East Staffordshire locality were identified as having large numbers of patients but poor uptake of EPS and they were targeted by the MOT. Uptake of EPS increased by 25% and 22% in these practices. Shielded and elderly patients were prioritised for EPS. AccuRx was an efficient and effective tool to support change.
