£1.2million funding for electronic medicines management system in Lincolnshire’s hospitals

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) has been successful in securing national funding to introduce an electronic prescribing and medicines administration (EPMA) system.

Once implemented, the system will provide NHS staff with rapid access to potentially lifesaving information on prescribed medicines, reduce duplication of information gathering and will reduce medication errors compared to a paper based system.

ULHT is one of seven hospital Trusts to receive a share of £8.7 million to introduce digital records and electronic prescribing.

Electronic systems reduce the average time taken to complete drug rounds. They also provide improved efficiency and better clinical oversight which improves patient safety and quality of care due to a reduced risk of prescription and medicine administration errors.

Paul Matthew, Director of Finance and Digital, said: “This investment will make sure our teams are able to access information at the click of a button, enabling them to be able to make clinical decisions much faster and safer than ever before. EPMA forms part of our wider programme to introduce electronic patient records across the Trust.”

Colin Costello, ULH Chief Pharmacist, said: “There is a wealth of evidence that EPMA systems improve patient safety, reduce the risk of harm and ensure high quality efficient patient care which is as safe as possible.”