Using EPS identifiers (e.g. to look-up prescriptions)
Published on: 7th March 2016 | Updated on: 19th March 2026
Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) messages move between prescribing and pharmacy systems through the NHS Spine. Each prescription is linked to the patient’s NHS number and medicines, and a set of unique identifiers helps connect prescribing, dispensing and claiming activity. These identifiers also ensure that the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) can process payments correctly.
At times, you may need to look up an older EPS prescription on your IT system. This may be to check that pricing was applied correctly, or because the Pricing Authority has requested more information.
You can search for a prescription in three main ways:
- by patient or their NHS number where this is known;
- using the EPS token ID or equivalent ID within barcode – ID (2) within the table; or
- using the UUID used within the Pricing Authority’s Transparency Portal if your system supplier allows yet – ID (7) within the table.
Eight key prescription identifiers (IDs) are listed below:
| Identifier category | Identifier | Information |
|
GP system-generated
|
(1) Prescription Form UUID* (long) | This universally unique identifier (UUID) is generated by the prescriber system. |
| (2) Short Prescription Form ID – token ID |
|
|
| (3) Prescription Line Item UUID* | Each line also has its own UUID. | |
|
Pharmacy system-generated: Dispensing
Note: If a dispense line or form |
(4) Dispense Notification Supplied Line Item UUID* | This line ID is generated for each dispensing episode entered onto the PMR system (e.g. owings). The Pricing Authority only need to receive last one. |
| (5) Dispensed Notification Form UUID* | Generated when pharmacy team sends the overall dispense message for form. | |
|
Pharmacy system-generated: Claiming
|
(6) Dispense/Claim Form UUID* | Generated when pharmacy team sends the overall prescription claim notification. Where claim amend feature used this will be regenerated. |
| (7) Dispense/Claim Supplied Line Item UUID* | This ID is used within the Pricing Authority’s Transparency Portal**. Speak to your system supplier about whether they will soon allow search by the Transparency Portal EPS ID if they do not already. | |
|
Generated for use by Pricing Authority
|
(8) Dispense Reimbursement Claim ID |
Spine generates this for sending to BSA, after pharmacy send final claim notification. Suppliers could not allow any lookup by this ID even if they wished to. This ID is only used by the Pricing Authority. |
*Indicates a ID composed of 32 characters plus four hyphens
**Information from the Pricing Authority. See column BP, of your Prescription Item report visible from within the Transparency Portal.
Unique prescription identifiers should be treated as personal data. While most people will not have the tools to link these IDs to wider datasets, data protection requirements encourage all organisations to handle such information sensitively.
For more information on this topic please email comms.team@cpe.org.uk
