Key Summary
- UK Government allocated £42 million to digitalise prescriptions in Northern Ireland.
- It is part of the £102.6 million planned for reforming the public services in NI.
- It supports six projects across health, communities, finance, and agriculture.
The UK government has allocated £42 million to the ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme to digitalise prescriptions in Northern Ireland.
This is the largest single allocation within a broader £102.6 million investment for public service reform in Northern Ireland, which supports six executive projects across health, communities, finance, and agriculture.
The programme will replace paper-based prescriptions with a fully digital process, enabling electronic transfer of prescriptions to community pharmacies across the region.
The system is expected to replace more than 45 million paper prescriptions each year with instant digital transfers, reducing manual handling and improving efficiency for patients, prescribers, and pharmacies.
Secretary of state for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn announced a release of £102.6 million, which represents the final tranche of the £235 million transformation fund provided by the UK Government as part of the 2024 package to restore the Northern Ireland Executive.
Benn said, “This £102.6 million investment is a significant milestone for Northern Ireland, and a clear signal of this government’s commitment to supporting the executive to deliver better public services for the people of Northern Ireland.”
“At the heart of this funding is a simple goal: making public services work better for the people who rely on them every day,” he added.
