The UK Electronic Patient Information Task Force

Our purpose is to facilitate a move to user-centred, digital-first medicines information that is inclusive and accessible for all, better for patients and the environment. 

Patients, their carers and clinicians need accurate, accessible information about medicines so they understand why a medicine is appropriate and how to take it safely. The better this understanding, the greater the likelihood of appropriate use and increased uptake and adherence, thus improving patient safety and clinical outcomes and reducing demand on the NHS.  

At present, medicines information is included in physical form with every pack of medicine. But many patients would find it just as easy to access this information online, where it could be provided in a range of formats and languages.  

We know that:

  • 94% of UK households have internet access 

  • 88% of UK adults have smartphones

  • 77% of people in a recent survey said their preferred source of medicines information was online, compared to 13% who favoured printed information

Digital medicines information can potentially: 

  • Be updated quickly

  • Be provided in many languages 

  • Include sound, graphics, and video 

  • Be adapted for people with different needs e.g., partially sighted people, people with learning difficulties 

We believe that in the future all medicines information should be available digitally. This will give patients a better experience, as well as reducing the environmental impact of producing paper leaflets. Currently around 100bn leaflets are produced a year, which amounts to 595,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.[5]

We recognise some people are unable to access information digitally. Therefore, the option to access medicines information non-digitally will need to remain available.

Our goal is to work with our partners to define technology standards to enable medicines manufacturers to provide digital information in a secure, consistent, compliant, globally interoperable way, using third-party platforms or their own systems to deliver that information.

We have come together to make this vision a reality. We are trade associations, medicines manufacturing and technology companies, the UK medicines regulator, NHS organisations and patient groups. 

We want to work with healthcare organisations, those involved in patient care and policymakers, to build a consensus for change and to develop a new way of ensuring all patients get the best information they need about their medicines in the most accessible, trusted way.