The Fund aims to provide equal financial support through grants to Suppliers, irrespective of customer deployment size. Funding will be provided towards the development work required to develop both EPS itself (tier 1), as well as innovation towards paperless pharmacy processes (tier 2) and integration with the NHS Wales App (tier 3). 

Life Sciences Hub Wales is administering the CPSIF grant fund in collaboration with the Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio (which is hosted by Digital Health and Care Wales) on behalf of the Welsh Government. 

UK registered businesses who currently supply, or have the potential to supply, pharmacies in Wales with digital services, can apply for a total grant of up to £111,562.50. The grant funding has three tiers, and applications are welcomed for any number of those tiers (tier 1 must be successfully completed before payment for tier 2 and 3 will be considered).  Each tier will be for a predefined maximum sum available, for up to 100% of evidenced revenue costs for work related to the requirements of that tier. 

Should you wish to apply, please ensure that you consult the Guidance Document for further information, paying specific attention to the scope, eligibility criteria and success criteria before completing the application form. 

You must not start any work on activities for which you are applying for funding before an offer of funding is made. Life Sciences Hub Wales will confirm in writing when work may start.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh. Any application submitted in Welsh will be treated no less favourably than an application submitted in English. 

PharmacyX and TITAN PMR are the first two companies who have been awarded grants and can now begin to develop their systems so pharmacies in Wales can use EPS. 

The Community Pharmacy System Innovation Fund is available to suppliers of digital community pharmacy systems in Wales. It remains open for applications until October 2024, although the organisers reserve the right to close it early should all funding be assigned. 

Led by Life Sciences Hub Wales, in partnership with the Digital Medicines Transformation Portfolio on behalf of Welsh Government, the Fund offers three tiers to bid across: 

  • Tier One: To develop and implement the changes necessary to community pharmacy systems to enable EPS in a Wales-based pharmacy through an assured patient medication record. This tier must be completed successfully before suppliers can apply for tiers two and three funding. 
  • Tier Two: To allow for paperless processes in community pharmacies (notwithstanding the right of a patient to request a paper prescription if they wish). 
  • Tier Three: To be able to send push notifications to the NHS Wales App to advise that a person's medicines have been prepared and are ready for collection, along with the location of the pharmacy and its opening hours.  

The Fund is open to applications from UK-registered businesses who currently supply, or have the potential to supply, pharmacies in Wales with digital services. Only activities associated with the aims explained in each tier are within the scope of the fund. Each tier is for a predefined maximum sum available, with up to 100% of this sum available for evidenced revenue costs for work related to the requirements of that tier. 

Applicants should ensure their plans meet the eligibility criteria and scope outlined in the published guidance document, available on the Life Sciences Hub Wales website. 

Sarah Taylor, Sector Intelligence Lead, Life Sciences Hub Wales, said:

“We’d like to congratulate PharmacyX and TITAN PMR on being awarded funding to help deliver EPS in Wales, and welcome further applications from other digital community pharmacy system suppliers. Digital prescribing has a wide range of benefits for patients, staff and the environment, so we’re looking forward to seeing the future outcomes of this funding opportunity.” 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at fundingsupport@lshubwales.com. 

 

The Community Pharmacy System Innovation Fund, set up to support the delivery of an electronic prescription service (EPS) in Wales, has made its first award of grants to two digital community pharmacy system suppliers. 

The grants will help suppliers to develop their systems to use an electronic prescription service and receive the electronic transfer of the prescriptions. 

It will also support the suppliers to introduce innovative changes to their systems that will results in paperless dispensing and integration with the new NHS Wales app when it is launched.