A nomination form is the highest-value form on a pharmacy website and usually the worst built. It is either buried, asks for a page of information, or promises something the website cannot deliver. Here is how to build one that patients complete, that your team can act on, and that describes accurately what it does.
First, what the form can and cannot do
An EPS nomination is set in the pharmacy's PMR system, by the GP, or by the patient in the NHS App. A public website has no connection into EPS. So the form's job is to capture a patient's request and consent to be nominated, so that a member of your team can set the nomination in your system and confirm back. That is genuinely useful — it captures the moment a patient decides — but the wording has to say so. "Nominate us online in 60 seconds" is a promise the page cannot keep; "Ask us to become your nominated pharmacy — we'll set it up and confirm" is accurate and converts just as well.
The fields
Ask for what the team needs to identify the patient and set the nomination, and nothing more:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Postcode (helps match the right record and confirms they are local)
- Mobile number and/or email, for the confirmation
- Current GP practice (optional, one field, helps you check)
- A consent tick-box with plain wording: "I ask [pharmacy] to set itself as my nominated pharmacy for NHS prescriptions and understand my prescriptions will be sent there electronically."
Do not ask for the NHS number (few know it), a full address (postcode is enough), medication details (that is the repeat form's job), or an account login. Every extra field costs completions, and this form is completed almost entirely on phones.
Where it lives
- In the main navigation, labelled plainly ("Nominate us" or "Switch to us")
- As a primary button on the homepage, next to "Order a repeat"
- On every service page, because a patient who books a service is a candidate to nominate
- Linked from the repeat prescription form, and vice versa
What happens after submit
The submission lands in a dashboard with a "new" status. A member of the team sets the nomination in the PMR (checking the patient's identity if the record does not match cleanly), marks it done, and the patient receives a confirmation message that also tells them how to order repeats through the site. That last message is what turns a nomination into a habit. If the submission goes to a shared inbox instead, plan for a share of them to be missed, which is the worst outcome — the patient thinks they have moved and their next prescription goes to the old pharmacy.
Wording that keeps you honest
- Say the pharmacy will set the nomination and confirm — not that the form does it instantly.
- Do not describe the form as "NHS", "linked to the NHS App" or "EPS-connected".
- Do not offer inducements for nominating; NHS prescription inducements are not permitted.
- Link your privacy notice; the form collects personal data and the patient should know how it is handled.
Measuring it
Track submissions per month, the share set within one working day, and your total nomination count. The nomination value calculator turns submissions into a revenue figure using your own item numbers; most pharmacies find the website pays for itself on one or two a month.
Every PharmGrowth pharmacy website ships with this form, worded as above, landing in its own dashboard tab. The wider picture — counter scripts, follow-up, watching for nominations leaving — is in how to increase EPS nominations.