Notifications from pharmacy systems to GP practice systems

Community pharmacies and GP practices increasingly share information electronically through their clinical IT systems.

Historically, this has included electronic notifications sent from pharmacy systems to GP practice systems.

These notifications have helped to:

• keep patient records up to date
• reduce duplication of work
• improve communication between pharmacy teams and GP practices
• support better patient care and experience

Standards for these information flows have been developed by the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB), working with NHS England, Community Pharmacy England, and clinicians across primary care.

Important update: evolving from notifications to shared records

The NHS is now moving towards a more integrated approach.

Instead of relying on notifications (often supported by PDFs or NHSmail), newer services allow pharmacy teams to record structured information directly into GP systems.

See: GP Connect Update Record

This means:

• GP practices receive information as part of their clinical workflow
• data can be filed directly into the patient record
• there is less need for manual processing or transcription

Notifications remain in use for some services, but are increasingly part of a transitional approach.

How notifications work (legacy/current use)

Electronic notifications can be sent automatically from some pharmacy IT systems to GP practice systems.

Typically:

• notifications are triggered when a pharmacy delivers a service
• the GP practice receives a workflow task in their clinical system
• information may include:
  • structured data; and/or
  • an attached document (e.g. PDF summary)

If a GP system cannot receive a structured notification:

• the pharmacy system may send the information via NHSmail or other established methods

Current use cases

Flu vaccination notifications

Electronic notifications have been used for pharmacy flu vaccination services.

They have:

• enabled GP practices to be informed of vaccinations delivered in pharmacies
• supported updating of patient records

Functionality has typically included:

• automatic sending from pharmacy systems
• receipt into GP workflow systems (e.g. EMIS Web, TPP SystmOne)

Urgent supply notifications (e.g. Pharmacy First)

Notifications are used to inform GP practices when:

• a pharmacy supplies a medicine or appliance urgently

These notifications help to:

• ensure awareness of care provided
• support accurate and up-to-date GP records

For pharmacy teams:

• notifications are usually sent automatically
• there is no change to how activity is recorded in the pharmacy system

Limitations of the notification approach

While notifications have supported information sharing, they can:

• rely on manual processing by GP practice teams
• include documents (e.g. PDFs) rather than fully structured data
• require fallback methods such as NHSmail
• vary depending on system capability and local configuration

These limitations are one reason why NHS services are moving towards more integrated solutions.

Future direction: structured record sharing

The NHS is prioritising the use of structured, standards-based information sharing between pharmacy and general practice systems.

This includes:

• direct integration into GP clinical workflows
• reduced reliance on email or document-based communication
• consistent approaches across services

For more information, see: GP Connect Update Record

Information for system suppliers

NHS England has developed digital specifications and APIs to support structured communication between pharmacy and GP systems.

Historically, these have supported a range of services, including:

• pharmacy immunisations (e.g. flu vaccination)
• emergency supply of medicines
• New Medicine Service (NMS)
• medication reviews
• minor illness referral services
• appliance use reviews

Some earlier notification-based use cases are now being phased out or replaced by newer approaches.

IT suppliers should refer to NHS England developer guidance for current integration requirements such as:

https://digital.nhs.uk/developer/api-catalogue/digital-medicine-fhir

Summary

• Electronic notifications have played an important role in improving communication between pharmacy and GP systems
• They are still used for some services
• However, NHS policy is now moving towards direct, structured record sharing
• Pharmacy teams and suppliers should be aware of this transition

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For more information on this topic please email it@cpe.org.uk