Northern Ireland will introduce a £42 million electronic prescribing system to replace paper prescriptions between GP practices and pharmacies.

The ePharmacy programme forms part of a wider £102.6 million public services transformation package funded through the UK Government Transformation Fund.

More than 200,000 patients visit GP practices each week in Northern Ireland, and over 45 million prescription items are handled annually through primary care.

The system is expected to reduce errors, cut administrative workload for staff, and speed up access to medicines for patients.

The announcement was made during a visit to Carryduff Pharmacy attended by Secretary of State Hilary Benn, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Finance Minister John O’Dowd and Northern Ireland Office Minister Matthew Patrick.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the programme would modernise prescriptions and deliver practical improvements to services.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said the change would create a safe and digitally enabled prescription service.

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland, and Dr Ursula Mason, Chair of the Royal College of GPs Northern Ireland, welcomed the move as overdue modernisation.

An additional £71.2 million from the same fund will support other health initiatives, with further allocations for children and families and employment support.