PATIENTS at a Bury GP practice are among the first in the country to benefit from a new scheme for prescriptions.

Greenmount Medical Centre has become one of only a handful of places to introduce a service to improve how prescriptions are handled.

People no longer have to visit their surgery just to collect the paper form — instead they can choose to have it sent electronically to any pharmacy or dispensary that is convenient.

This makes processing requests for medicine faster and more efficient, with patients able to choose a pharmacy near their home, work or where they shop.

Greenmount is one of the national pilot sites for the new service, the Electronic Prescription Service.

After the testing phase, the scheme will be gradually rolled out across the town and the rest of the country to benefit people needing repeat prescriptions.

Dr John Hampson, a GP at Greenmount, said: “We are delighted to be leading the way with this new state of the art technology.

“The new system will make it much easier for pharmacies to manage routine repeat prescriptions in partnership with general practices.”

Pharmacies in Greenmount have also welcomed the scheme.

Ken Gardner, at Gardner’s Pharmacy, said: “We are pleased to be at the forefront of introducing the Electronic Prescription Service as it is going to bring our patients real benefits.

“The system is also making life easier for us in the pharmacy. Previously we would have to go to the GP practice at least once or twice a day to pick up prescriptions. Now they are available at the click of a button.”

Keith Lemon, of Manor Pharmacy, added: “The changes happen ‘behind the scenes’ so patients have coped with the transition very easily.

“There are benefits for them such as, in the past, if a patient lost a prescription, we would be unable to find out the drugs they had been prescribed by the GP.

“Now we are able to access this via the Electronic Prescription Service, reducing the hassle for the patient.”