A pharmacy in Old Colwyn has dispensed the 100,000th prescription item using the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS).

The medication was sent electronically from Cadwgan Surgery, marking a significant milestone for the digital service.

The EPS, part of the NHS Wales, allows prescriptions to be sent from GP practices to pharmacies without paper forms, making the process safer and more efficient.

It is currently being implemented across various communities in Wales to enhance patient care.

Jenny Pugh-Jones, EPS lead for Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), said: "Passing the 100,000-prescription item mark is a really significant step for electronic prescriptions in Wales.

"Since EPS launched, colleagues in DHCW, primary care, community pharmacies and other stakeholders have worked incredibly hard to start rolling out the service across Wales.

"It’s been exciting to see prescribing and dispensing numbers rise steadily each week, as more GP practices and pharmacies have come on board.

"I now look forward to building on this progress to benefit more patients and healthcare staff across Wales."

The EPS is a crucial part of the Digital Medicines programme managed by DHCW.

It aims to replace the traditional green paper prescription forms with a digital process.

Jenny Rose, director of stores for Wales and West at Boots, said: "Electronic prescriptions make it easier and safer for patients to access the medicines they need and make life easier for GP surgeries and pharmacy teams too.

"It has been great to support the roll out of EPS to all our Welsh stores."

Dr Helen Stone, a member of the GP team at Cadwgan Surgery, said: "Being part of the electronic prescriptions roll-out has involved a lot of hard work for our whole team and we are all delighted that it is now up and running.

"We are sure EPS will make things safer and easier for our patients and we are very proud to be a part of it."

The EPS eliminates the need for patients to visit their surgery to pick up a repeat prescription form, and allows prescriptions to be tracked from the practice to the dispenser.

The service is free, efficient, and secure, and patients can sign up at their GP practice or usual pharmacy.

The EPS also has environmental benefits, as it reduces the need for paper forms to be printed.

The service is being rolled out across Wales as quickly and safely as possible, with more GP practices and dispensers starting to use the service each month.