A new electronic prescription service is set to be introduced across the district to make it easier for patients to get their medicine and reduce the paper mountain for pharmacists.

Managers at NHS Bradford and Airedale have applied for permission from Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to use the electronic prescription service (EPS) starting with some pharmacists and GPs from September.

The plan is to introduce the system gradually across the district from October.

The new system should be more efficient for receiving, dispensing and reimbursing prescriptions. It will eventually allow a patient’s prescription to be sent electronically to any pharmacy they nominate to collect their medication.

The streamlined system will mainly benefit patients receiving repeat prescriptions, which account for about 70 per cent of the 1.5 million paper prescriptions which are issued every working day in England.

Rachel Urban, community pharmacy development manager, of NHS Bradford and Airedale said: “The EPS will make life much easier for many patients, particularly those receiving regular prescriptions, whilst improving the efficiency and reducing the administrative burden for GPs and pharmacists.”

John Pollard, pharmacist at Lloyds Pharmacy at The Ridge practice in Great Horton, Bradford, said: “We will no longer have the time-consuming task of sorting masses of paper scripts at the end of each month to send to the reimbursement agency and it will really help with planning workloads.”

e-mail: claire.lomax@telegraphandargus.co.uk