Dispensaries
Dispensaries, unsurprisingly, form one of the central pillars of the PTS data structure. Users, wards, prescription types and more all ultimately relate to a dispensary. It's therefore possible to create multiple independent systems by using separate dispensaries.
Be advised that PTS is licensed on a "number of dispensaries" basis.
Accessing the setup page
Like many of the different PTS utilities, setup is found in the left-hand side bar.
Hover over the sidebar with the mouse cursor and the side bar will expand. Select Setup to reveal a drop-down list of the various setup pages you have permission to access.
To choose a setup page click on its name in the list to be taken to the setup page.
PTS 5 is the most user configurable version of our Prescription Tracking System to date. As a result parts of this Wiki assumes that the reader has permission to access the elements of the system in question. If you don't see specific items and utilities where they are supposed to be you may not have permission to access them.
Adding new dispensary
To create a new dispensary access the actions menu by clicking on the actions menu icon at the top right of the page, then from the actions menu click the New Dispensary button.
Click OK when you're done. The process then continues in the dispensary popup.
PTS is licensed per dispensary. If you run out of dispensary licenses you will be unable to add a new dispensary.
Editing existing dispensaries
To edit an existing dispensary, select the dispensary you wish to amend by clicking on its entry in the list to load the dispensary popup (note clicking the tickbox has another dedicated function).
Dispensary popup
The dispensary popup appears after adding a new dispensary, or clicking on a dispensary in the list to edit it.
Enter the following information and click the Save button to finish creating or editing the dispensary. Some fields may be optional.
Dispensary details tab
- Description
An easily recognisable name for the dispensary. - Contact details
This is a free-format field where a telephone number, e-mail address or even some HTML code can be specified. This appears in various parts of the system. - Clear user when booking-in
Forces the user to select their own details when each prescription is booked in. Disable this if you intend to use a generic booking in account of some sort. - Duplicate check mins.
PTS can warn users if the same patient’s details are entered in quick succession on the basis that it could be an accidental duplicate. This field is used to determine the time span that applies. - Dispensary close activity
If an activity is specified here, it will be recorded for all active users when the dispensary is closed. An instant, prescription-unrelated activity should be used, such as End of Shift. - Show on login screen
When enabled the dispensary will appear as an additional tab on the login screen, allowing for a simplified way for external users to log in. - Use QR Codes
Enable this to have the prescription labels print with a QR code instead of a traditional 1D barcode. QR codes are more robust and easy to scan but require a compatible scanner. - e-prescribing options
These settings will be used by TMSi and Trust IT when implementing an e-prescribing solution.
Ticket options tab
- Format of ticket number
The # character will be replaced by the next number in the ticket numbering sequence. Prefix the # with any other characters that you may want printed on the ticket and output on any webpages that display the ticket number. - Ticket no. reset interval
Define how often ticket numbers will reset to the "starting ticket number". Options available are daily, weekly, monthly and annually. - Starting ticket no.
This allows you to define the number your tickets will start at each time they are reset, e.g. "1". Amending this can be useful when multiple dispensaries share a waiting area to keep the ticket numbers well apart. - Ticket nos. span types
When enabled ticket numbers will increment regardless of the prescription type being dispensed. When disabled each prescription type will have its own numbering sequence.
Collection status options tab
This tab primarily relates to what is displayed on the Collection Status Screens.
- Minimum wait (mins)
PTS always calculates the actual average dispensing time for the pharmacy, but you may prefer to set a minimum time that will be displayed to your patients. This is to avoid an unreasonably small estimated wait time being presented to the patient, such as at the start of the day when the average may be close to 0. - Average wait last hour only
You may feel the average dispensing time is only relevant for the most recent prescriptions that have been processed. This setting allows you to limit the calculation to the last hour. If set to No, the average will be calculated for all prescriptions processed so far today. - Show res. pharmacist
If set to Yes the name of the current responsible pharmacist and their registration number will be displayed on the collection status screens. This notice satisfies the legal requirement to display the current RP to patients. Ensure the pharmacist's "professional registration number" is added to their entry in the users setup page. - Col. Status Incomplete
Specify the text that is displayed to patients when their prescription is incomplete, such as "Please Wait". - Col. Status Ready
Specify the text that is displayed to patients when their prescription is ready, such as "Ready for collection". - Col. Status Flagged
Specify the text that is displayed to patients when their prescription is "flagged", such as "Please come to hatch". A prescription is flagged when a note is scanned that has Flag Patient set under display options, e.g. "Out of stock"
Opening hours tab
Here you can specify the dispensaries opening hours for each day of the week. Opening hours control the following:
- Used to determine whether or not a prescription is started immediately or goes to a pending status depending on the time of day. The precise action to be taken is further determined by the Start Type setting in the prescription type set up. This information is primarily used when PTS 5 is configured for e-prescribing, but the same rules will apply to prescriptions booked in manually.
- Outside of opening hours, a user with the ENDOFDAY permission can close the dispensary on the home page. This will record the Dispensary Close Activity (e.g. End of Shift) for any users still logged in outside of dispensary opening hours.
- Prescriptions can have automatic notes (e.g. a suspend note) that get recorded when the dispensary is closed.
If the dispensary is closed on any given day simply set the open and close times to the same time.
Bank holidays tab
The bank holidays tab allows for you to close the dispensary for an entire calendar day. Use the Plus button to add a date to the list.
Drugs tab
The drugs tab allows you to specify which drugs the dispensary can and can't dispense. This is sometimes used, for example, in hospitals with small satellite dispensaries who should have a smaller list of selectable drugs than the main dispensary. See the prescription type page for information on how to configure the prescription types to defer to this drug list.
This facility depends on the Drugs setup page being populated. It is not used by the CD Register.
Those Trusts using e-prescribing can make use of this drugs list to assist in the automatic determination of which dispensary will be used to process a prescription. In other words, if this dispensary is open (see bank holidays and opening hours above), and the drug required is listed here, this dispensary will be a candidate for receiving the prescription.
To add a drug, click on the Plus button, then either select the drug from the dropdown list or start typing the name of the drug in the search field.
Printers tab
This section allows you to determine which printers can be used within a dispensary. To install a label printer please see the Label Printer Installation guide; this tab is primarily for assigning pre-installed printers to a dispensary, which is usually already completed as part of the base installation.
Automated printing
You can however use this tab to specify the label printer that should be used for any automated printing. Automated printing occurs when a label is generated without any user interaction, most commonly when a prescription is booked in by e-prescribing. To specify the "automated printer" printer, click the Plus button and select the printer in the "Printer used for automated printing" drop down and click OK.
If the Plus button is missing, or the desired printer cannot be selected, remove the printer from the list first and then add it back whilst selecting it as the automated printer. This will not require the printer to be re-installed from scratch.
Note you cannot use browser based printing as an automated printer.
Prescription types tab
This section allows you to define which prescription types can be handled by a dispensary.
Click on the Plus button to select from the list of prescription types that have been created on the prescription types setup page. You can assign prescription types to multiple dispensaries.
To remove a previously added prescription type from the list, click the Delete button (this does not delete the prescription type from the system, it just removes it from this list).
Wards tab
This section allows you to define which wards are served by a dispensary.
Click on the Plus button to select from the list of wards that have been created on the the wards setup page. You can assign wards to multiple dispensaries.
To remove a previously added ward from the list, click the Delete button (this does not delete the ward from the system, it just removes it from this list).
Users tab
This section allows you to define which users are allocated to a dispensary.
Click on the Plus button to select from the list of users that have been created on the the users setup page. You can assign users to multiple dispensaries.
When adding a user to the list you can input the following options:
- Default?
If this dispensary is the user's primary location, make it their default here. This informs what is pre-selected on their booking in screen and on user views that filter by "default dispensary". - Show Stats?
Choose whether this user should be able to see the dispensaries live stats on their home pages.
To remove a previously added user from the list, click the Delete button (this does not delete the user from the system, it just removes them from this list).
Printing dispensary barcodes
To begin, select the dispensary for which you want to generate barcodes by ticking the tick box to the left of their entries in the list. You can select multiple dispensaries at once. Once you've done so the Actions Menu will slide in from the right-hand side of the webpage.
Click on the Print Barcodes button and the available printers will be listed, along with the option to print a QR code for use exclusively with 2D barcode readers.
Click on the printer you want to use and the barcode label will be printed. If you chose Browser Printing then your web browser will handle the print job as opposed to PTS and a print preview will be displayed along with the option to choose an attached printer.
Available barcodes
- Responsible Pharmacist
This barcode is used in conjunction with a user barcode to make them the responsible pharmacist of the dispensary. - Change Dispensary
Changes the assigned dispensary of a prescription to the selected dispensary. - Close Dispensary
Closes the dispensary.