Non medical prescribers (NMP) within the community trust identified that staff working in general practice within the Integrated Care System (ICS) had advice at the point of prescribing from the clinical system and requested similar within the hospital and community systems.
Working jointly with the ICB and FDB (First Databank), the creators of OptimiseRx, we were able to test and then pilot using the same solution as GP practices within the Community Trust. The software was able to link back to the GPs record for the patient to check their clinical record alongside the limited record held in DCHS, and then fire appropriate messages on the community and Urgent Treatment Centre SystmOne Units that are already enabled for EPS prescriptions.
We successfully rolled out the pilot rapidly across 29 services within 6 weeks, and then captured data over remaining months to demonstrate benefit. We evaluated staff prescribing confidence prior to and following successful roll-out which showed an overall increase in prescribing confidence, and positive evaluation of the software. We undertook focus groups which provided positive feedback from staff on the use of the software.
We demonstrated high engagement with the software as there was higher than national uptake across all message types (e.g. best practice, cost saving, safety), with a good percentage of alternative medicines accepted and prescribed. Cost saving messages contributed £19,000 of savings in the period Sept 2023-May 2024, which is modest, but the spend on medicines within the equivalent services is also limited, and was approx 3% of the Trust FP10 prescribing costs, which compares to the ICB savings of approx. 1.1% of their prescribing budget (and strong ROI which this project supports). The project supported improvements in the cost, quality and safety of prescribing, supported the community trust to prescribe in line with ICS prescribing guidance and reduced interface prescribing issues.
