A mental health charity caring for patients with complex needs has seen a 50% drop in prescription-related errors since rolling out a new electronic prescribing and medicines administration system (ePMA) system.
St Andrew’s Healthcare – whose 4,500 staff care for around 800 patients at four main hospital sites – worked closely with EMIS Health to introduce the system, which replaces paper drug charts. It enables clinicians to more safely prescribe drugs with the optimal dosage and duration, as well as providing integrated support for flagging potentially incorrect prescriptions.
The charity says it has also helped nurses to nearly halve the time they spend on administering drugs to patients.