How Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust saw the benefits of Interoperability by integrating ePMA with their Omnicell automated dispensing cabinets
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) is the main provider of acute and specialist care services in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, serving a population of around 430,000 patients and is responsible for the provisions of services at three main sites with over 750 beds. The services provided by RCHT are highly valued by the local community and patients, including a range of specialist and community-based services to provide for the health needs of people needing planned care. An early adopter of ePMA systems, installing WellSky back in 2012, they saw some initial benefits around easier auditing processes and reduced error rates, but the Trust always saw it as a stepping-stone to more electronic solutions to drive further improvements. So in 2018 they invested in Omnicell automated dispensing cabinets for four of their hospital wards - two acute medical care wards, A&E, and respiratory ward.
The Challenge
Liam Bastian, Lead Pharmacist for ePrescribing and Digital Medicines told us, “We decided that we wanted the solutions integrated with our ePMA system from day one. We knew that by integrating the two we would receive more benefits.”
Liam Bastian, Lead Pharmacist for ePrescribing and Digital Medicines told us, “We decided that we wanted the solutions integrated with our ePMA system from day one. We knew that by integrating the two we would receive more benefits.”
The Results
Since installing Omnicell cabinets integrated with WellSky the Trust has seen a reduction in missed dose rates due to out-of-stock medicines of between 20% and 50% on each of the wards. In A&E they also saw an 8% reduction in stock drugs issued.
“The biggest benefit was around time savings. We no longer have incidents of nurses searching for drugs or keys to the drug cupboard. Moving to an electronic CD register and controlled storage also saved 486 hours per year in nursing time across all the four wards by reducing the need for daily counts.”
Time savings weren’t just focused on nursing, there has also been a time saving of 120 hours per year for pharmacy staff who no longer need to go up to the wards to find out what medication needs to be restocked. This process is now automated.
"All this time has been refocused and redirected back into patient care which brings with it its own patient safety benefits. There have also been other benefits around safety such as a reduction in picking errors. Due to the integration staff are selecting medication directly from the ePMA chart for that patient.”
Since installing Omnicell cabinets integrated with WellSky the Trust has seen a reduction in missed dose rates due to out-of-stock medicines of between 20% and 50% on each of the wards. In A&E they also saw an 8% reduction in stock drugs issued.
“The biggest benefit was around time savings. We no longer have incidents of nurses searching for drugs or keys to the drug cupboard. Moving to an electronic CD register and controlled storage also saved 486 hours per year in nursing time across all the four wards by reducing the need for daily counts.”
Time savings weren’t just focused on nursing, there has also been a time saving of 120 hours per year for pharmacy staff who no longer need to go up to the wards to find out what medication needs to be restocked. This process is now automated.
"All this time has been refocused and redirected back into patient care which brings with it its own patient safety benefits. There have also been other benefits around safety such as a reduction in picking errors. Due to the integration staff are selecting medication directly from the ePMA chart for that patient.”
The Impact
After implementation the results were:
- A 20-50% reduction in missed dose rates on each ward
- A 8% reduction in stock drugs issued in A&E
- A 486 hours per year saved in nursing time
- A 120 hours per year saved for pharmacy staff
