Eclipse is phased out

Torex, the owner of the Eclipse pharmacy system, has announced that it is to dicontinue the development of the product and cease drug data updates with immediate effect.

Eclipse will no longer seek compliance for Release 2 of the Electronic Prescription Service. It was the second pharmacy system to achieve Release 1 accreditation in 2005, when it was used by 700 pharmacies across the UK.

According to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, the representative body for pharmacists in England and Wales, Torex has written to its customers stating that the cost of maintaining a solution across a small customer base has become prohibitively high.

Torex is to provide support for existing Eclipse customers, while they make alternative arrangements.

No pharmacy or GP practice systems have yet achieved compliance for Release 2 of the EPS, with TPP’s SystmOne expected to be the first GP system to be accredited. Initial implementation of Release 2 is expected to start in early 2009, following accreditation of a GP and a pharmacy system.