Automated dispensing is a major step forward says First Minister of Wales
Caroline Morgan, the dispensary manager at Llandough Hospital, shows
the
automated dispensing system to First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan. |
Automated dispensing is a major step forward in releasing pharmacists from the dispensary and onto the wards where they can better apply their skills, according to Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the National Assembly of Wales. “The initiative also provides other benefits in terms of
patient safety and value for money,” he added, while addressing the
Welsh Executive of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The First Minister added that the use of new technology
within the pharmacy profession is vital to building on the role of pharmacists
improving patient care. He said, “The Welsh
Assembly Government’s
commitment to supporting information technology has already been demonstrated
within secondary care through our investment in the
automation project for Wales.” Mr Morgan was referring to an investment
made by the
assembly in three hospital
pharmacies in Wales. Llandough Hospital in Cardiff (part of the Cardiff
and Vale NHS Trust), Glan Clwyd Hospital and The West Wales NHS Trust have
been selected to be involved in the first phase of the automation pilot.
The Llandough system allows dispensing into the main dispensary,
the ward top-up area and the night stock cupboard. Initially, the
system will just select items from the shelves, but a labelling system
is due to be added early next year. The system also has the capacity
to store and dispense fridge items.
Another advantage of the system is that it can be operated remotely
by on-call pharmacists. This will allow them to select a product,
label it and deliver it to the night stock cupboard using a laptop
computer based at home. This will help to reduce the number of times
that on-call pharmacists will need to travel into the hospital from
home.
|
Mr Morgan made a visit to Llandough Hospital Pharmacy in Cardiff on
10 October. He had a preview of the automated dispensing system (APS)
which
was due to “go live” on 3 November.
Dave Roberts, chief
pharmacist of the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust said, “The First Minister
showed a keen interest in the automated pharmacy
system, the increase in capacity it will provide and the benefits this
will bring by releasing pharmacy staff to the patient’s bedside,
thereby contributing to a
reduction in medication errors. He also noted the enthusiasm which the
pharmacy staff showed for the APS and the
re-engineering of pharmacy
services.”
According to Mr Roberts, Mr Morgan was pleased to hear that the costs and
benefits of this modernisation project are being assessed through a multi-centre
research and development
project which is being
co-ordinated by Dr Cate
Whittlesea (senior lecturer at the Welsh School of Pharmacy) and Dr Ceri
Phillips (reader in health economics at Swansea university). A report will
be
presented to the Welsh
Assembly early next year, to establish whether the pilot
systems are providing good value for money.
Mr Roberts pointed out that the APS will supply original patient packs
at the point of
discharge. It is expected that this will result in a substantial
reduction in expenditure to the local health economy. |
