AMS Digital Programme Update

Published: 11/07/2024

Our colleagues at National Services Scotland (NSS) would like to share their message about the AMS Digital Programme.

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AMS Digital Programme update - July 2024

As you may recall from a previous communication in October 2023, the AMS Digital (AMS D) Programme Team confirmed in September 2023 that the programme would not be going live on 1st November 2023.

Since then, discussions have been on-going with Scottish Government (SG) & Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) with regards to the future delivery of AMS Digital.

In October 2023, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) recognised the pressing need to singularly focus on addressing the issue of estimated payments and all efforts were directed towards paying actuals to contractors. In support of this NSS, alongside SG and CPS, had agreed the following:

1. To pause and revise the AMS D delivery plan.

2. To scale down the Early Adopters (EA’s) work.

3. To stand up a new Scanning service with full capacity (circa 6.5 million scripts per month), to replace end of life scanners with more modern systems at our NSS, Gyle Square location in Edinburgh.

4. The aim of this was to mitigate failure of system and to improve efficiency in scanning services, thereby improving the efficiency of the whole process.

Given the investment in the new Scanning service, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has been exploring the future of the AMS Digital Programme and how best to achieve the objectives of the programme, central to which was establishing a robust claiming, processing and payments process without the paper as primary driver, as this will be the case when Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme (DPDP) is implemented in NHS Scotland.

Currently we are reviewing the learning and feedback from the work with Early Adopters so that we can focus on addressing jointly with all stakeholders the issues that were identified as necessary for a successful transition from paper to electronic claiming, processing, and payments. We do not envisage a situation where contractors will be required to split prescriptions as part of any future process.

A separate communication was recently issued to thank those that took part in the Early Adopters phase of the AMS- D programme.

We are working to re-baseline the requirements and funding of outstanding work to complete the delivery of AMS Digital programme including future engagement with all stakeholders, and alignment with the Digital Prescribing and Dispensing Pathways programme (DPDP). A revised delivery plan will be communicated with all stakeholders when this exercise is completed.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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