Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 9 No 10 p284
November 2002

News summary

New computerised error-reducing system at Charing Cross

Charing Cross Hospital, part of the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, London, has agreed to be a beta test site (IT equivalent of a phase II trial) for a new ward-based computerised system for nurses to use on medicines rounds.

The system is being installed on a 28-bed surgical ward and will be evaluated for the United Kingdom market to see if it will lead to a significant reduction in medication errors.

The system was designed by an Israeli team at MDG Medical, and is already being assessed at hospitals in Tel Hashomer, Israel, and Cleveland, United States. The system is decentralised, using software specifically designed for it but based on the Microsoft culture.

Dr Gilead Asseo, chief executive officer, MDG Medical, told Hospital Pharmacist that he is passionate about the venture but stressed: "This is not yet a commercial product. The system is 80 per cent developed and we now want to work with hospitals to fine tune it. We hope that the product will be commercially-available by 2004."

Ann Jacklin, chief pharmacist, Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, told Hospital Pharmacist that the evaluation is a joint National Health Service/academic one and she wants to understand how such a product fits into the NHS.

The research in the UK is being led by Professor Nick Barber from the School of Pharmacy, University of London. It is funded by grants from, among others, the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation.