The team behind a pioneering project improving medicines safety has been shortlisted for a national HSJ Digital Award.
The Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) team at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) has been shortlisted in the Improving Medicines Management and Pharmacy through Digital category.
The award recognises the team’s work in implementing ePMA across the Trust’s 57 mental health and learning disability wards. CNTW is one of the first mental health Trusts to take on this challenge.
ePMA is a module within the Electronic Patient Record that is used to record the prescribing and administration of medications, replacing traditional paper-based records.
Its implementation has led to efficient clinical workflow and high-quality patient care, leading the way for further digital medicine innovation.
CNTW’s ePMA project aimed to improve safety, reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve governance controls. It also looked to address digital inequalities.
Philippa Adam, ePMA Project Manager at CNTW, said: “We are thrilled to be shortlisted for this award. We hope it shows the significant impact the project has had across the Trust. The collaboration with nursing, pharmacy and digital teams, as well as early engagement with medical staff, has been critical to the project’s success.
“This recognition highlights the digital transformation we’ve achieved, with patient safety at the core. It has helped support staff with safer medicine practices, as well as improve patient outcomes.”
The project was done in a phased approach, beginning with a pilot in older adult services. Plans were tailored to the specific needs of each ward.
The system is accessible from anywhere, providing staff with easy access to prescribing data. By adding ePMA to CNTW’s existing Electronic Patient Record, staff were already familiar with the system.
To date, ePMA has recorded over 9 million medication doses and 280,000 prescriptions and over 2,800 staff have been trained in ePMA, with different training suited to different digital literacy levels.
ePMA has significantly improved patient outcomes:
- Trust prescribing standards have achieved 100% compliance
- Built-in decision support alerts and safer care reminders have led to a 25% reduction in medication incidents
- 5% reduction in medication errors and elimination of transcription errors
- More efficient medicine management processes, saving time which is reinvested into patient care
- Real-time updates enable simpler transition of care between teams
The implementation of ePMA has had a huge impact on patients and staff.
Staff feel more confident in complex mental health medication management. The system has reduced anxiety for staff regarding medication errors by providing built-in decision support tools.
Patients and carers can feel reassured knowing that medications are managed using a system designed to minimise risks and ensure accuracy.
Staff experience of ePMA has been overwhelmingly positive, reporting that the system is safer, faster, easier and more efficient than paper processes.
The award winners will be announced on 26 June.