HSCIC delays smartcard access switchover until next year
HSCIC has delayed the release of the new system that pharmacists will use to access the electronic prescription service (EPS) with their smartcard because it needs to test it more, C+D has learned.
EXCLUSIVE
A switchover to a new system for pharmacists to access the electronic prescription service (EPS) has been delayed to avoid disrupting the NHS, C+D has learned.
The Care Identity Service (CIS) was due to launch at the end of this month, but the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has pushed back the rollout until next year, as it needs to further test the system.
HSCIC expressed concerns over the effect a release before that time would have on the "continuity of services" on the spine – the central NHS IT system that enables EPS – in a letter sent to CCGs last week and seen by C+D yesterday (November 17).
The service will see HSCIC take over responsibility for how healthcare professionals log in to the spine with their smartcard from BT. HSCIC told C+D that pharmacists would continue to use their existing smartcard and the change would allow "greater flexibility" to introduce new features to the system over time.
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HSCIC admitted the delay was "disappointing" but said it had to consider the "potential risk" to NHS operations and the "high number of users" of the spine. It referred to a spine outage last month – which forced pharmacists to turn away patients and work overtime – as a "timely reminder" of what could happen if the system locked users out. Although there had been no specific problems with testing the system, HSCIC wanted to be confident it could respond to a "variety of scenarios" that could arise during the switchover, it told C+D. HSCIC still had confidence in the new system after receiving "positive feedback" from users and was looking for a "realistic date" in 2015 for the switchover, it stressed in its email. It pledged to update stakeholders as soon as it had finished planning the rollout. Lack of preparationCommunity Pharmacy West Yorkshire chief executive Robbie Turner said HSCIC had done "no preparation with stakeholders" and he hoped the service would be delayed until "as late as possible" in 2015. But HSCIC told C+D that more than 100 staff across the country had been trained in how to use the new system and how they could prepare the NHS organisations in their area. Speaking to C+D before the announcement of the delay, Pharmacy Voice said the original November date for the switchover would have been "challenging". The transition could have disrupted business in the run up to Christmas, which was "perhaps the busiest time of year for pharmacies", said the organisation's national IT lead John Palmer.
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