NHS ML Prescription Ordering Direct Service

Background

A Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service was established for Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board. A responsive, patient-centred POD service can reduce prescription costs, reduce prescription waste and improve medicines safety. A POD service can save valuable NHS funds by reducing GP workloads, thus improving access to clinicians and allowing them to devote more time to complex patient needs.

Action

Our approach to establishing the POD service has been through a combination of NHS Midlands and Lancashire teams including our Referral Management Centre team, Digital Clinical Safety team and Medicines Management Optimisation team.

During the mobilisation phase, a Data Protection Impact Assessment was developed to systematically analyse, identify and minimise any data protection risks of the POD service. A Quality Impact Assessment was completed showing a centralised POD service could enable better access to ordering repeat prescriptions, reduce costs and improve patient safety. The Equality Impact Assessment found no concerns with any protected group.

Key stakeholders were engaged with via the Project Oversight Group which enabled key discussion making, strategic oversight and implementation steps to ensure successful deployment of the POD service. A range of communication materials including letters to patients, leaflets and posters were created and shared. A range of training materials and protocols were developed, and this included a detailed Administration SOP and medicine optimisation toolkit for our call operatives.

A call centre was established to provide NHS POD services from the 29th January 2024 to 31st March 2024 for Adderley Green Surgery and Willow Bank Surgery in Meir Primary Care Network.

Partnering with MLCSU for our POD service has been transformative. Their expertise and commitment has streamlined our prescription management process, enhancing efficiency and accuracy. Patients now experience faster and more reliable access to their medications, improving overall satisfaction and health outcomes. Financially, we've seen savings through reduced administrative costs and minimised prescription errors. The Team’s contribution has been invaluable, directly benefiting both our operational performance and patient care.

Joanne Carpenter
Meir Primary Care Network