Investment in electronic prescribing will benefit patients
We’re introducing a new feature into our patient record system which will allow electronic prescribing and administration of medications (EPMA).
Initially this will be on our inpatient wards. It follows a successful bid by the Trust last year for funding from NHSEI.
This will enable us to prescribe, supply and administer medicines electronically and will bring with it a significant range of safety, quality and financial benefits.
We will be replacing the paper drug charts with electronic processes which will be completed in our current SystmOne patient record system. This will enable a complete record that can be accessed remotely.
Kate Dewhirst, chief pharmacist, said: “There are so many benefits to switching to EPMA.
“Nurses can look at the system and find all the information they need about a drug at their fingertips; therefore it increases the knowledge of staff about medications.
“As information is more accessible to staff they can find the answers to any questions about their medication while they are with patients.
“The new feature supports remote working and will make a big difference to how timely we can react to new medication requests.”
Every ward will be kitted out with a computer on wheels to enable medication to be administered electronically. The Trust’s EPMA implementation team will be working hard with all staff to train and recruit champions for each ward.
Dr Subha Thiyagesh, medical director, said: “Some of our key Trust values are to be relevant for today and ready for tomorrow; and to put the person first and in the middle.
“That’s why, despite the Coronavirus pandemic; we feel it’s important not to stand still as there are many benefits of EPMA to patients and the service we provide on our wards.”
The first phase of EPMA will begin in the autumn where we will roll out the new functionality in selected inpatient wards across all of our localities and types of setting. We aim to have 80% of wards using EPMA by the end of March 2021. Community teams will benefit from EPMA in later phases of the project during 2021/22.
