Mid Cheshire switch to Ascribe e-prescribing

10 Oct 2007

Pharmacists at the Mid Cheshire NHS Hospitals Trust have started using a web-based e-pharmacy system from Ascribe to fully automate the department and integrate with existing systems.

The system, called Web Pharmacy, connects information throughout the pharmacy department, between prescribing, pharmacy and administration processes, including stock management and finance.

Ascribe’s executive chairman, Stephen Critchlow, told E-Health Insider: “Web Pharmacy is giving Mid Cheshire our latest upgraded e-prescribing application based on an industrial strength platform and if they want to configure the system, it will be able to integrate with any information systems to provide one electronic patient record.

Critchlow said growing numbers of customers in healthcare want e-prescribing and medicines management. “Web Pharmacy is unique in that it can utilise a software interface to the hospital’s existing patient administration system to enable a more comprehensive Electronic Patient Record.”

Within Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust the system is so far being used by the pharmacy department at Leighton hospital. Using the system doctors and nurses can use integrated e-prescribing and medicines management in the hospital, which is then sent through to the pharmacy over a wireless network, and dispensed by a robotic system.

Alan Denby, chief pharmacist of Leighton hospital, said the system offered “significant improvements” to patients care.

The system is backed up by Quality Assured standards of support and service level agreements and Critchlow says it will help trusts meet the requirements of the Audit Commission’s ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ report.

Critchlow said every hospital trust needed a system to ensure medicines management and reduce prescribing errors. “I would say that if every trust in the NHS took our system, it could save up to 700 lives a year and around £350m to the NHS.”

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Reader's Comments

Confused

10 Oct 07 17:24

I'm confused: 1. The article describes this new module as being used by Pharmacists. If it is an e-prescrbing system would one not expect doctors to be using it? 2. The article quotes, “Web Pharmacy is unique in that it can utilise a software interface to the hospital’s existing patient administration system". What is unique about an interface to a PAS?

CSC/iSOFT and Ascribe

11 Oct 07 14:34

I presume that Ascribe are working closely with CfH/CSC/iSOFT to ensure that best of breed departmental systems such as Ascribe pharmacy will be able to seamlessly integrate (using dm+d & HL7v3 messages?) with the core Lorenzo clinical system which is contracted to include an e-prescribing/e-administration module in its core functionality.

Decision Support etc

georgebrown@bulldoghome.com

17 Oct 07 00:57

What does this actually offer - is it just an interface to pharmacy stock management and PAS demographics?

Is there decision support (which means different things to different people), for the administration of drugs at the patient bedside - and is this decision support provided "in-house" from the system vendor - or from a third party specialising in providing such systems (perhaps with SNOMED-CT and DM+D support)?

I'd suggest that what we are really looking for is the electronic recording of drugs administered to the patient - providing the full range of screening which goes on in the current business process (which I'd also suggest should be performed at the prescribing part of the process). For example drug-drug interaction screening, contra indication screening, therapeutic duplication screening etc

Prescribed drugs are not necessarily administered to the patient.

Are the full ranges of medicines dealt with by the electronic system - such as IV fluids (including fluid balance charts)?

Is any screening provided performed at the prescribing 'event' (making screening at the 'dispensing' event redundant)?

Does the robot actually label the medicines dispensed by Pharmacy - or is it just picking the products stocked by the robot only - which then have to be labelled and checked by pharmacy?

Is this hospital ward medication chart replaced with an electronic process (i.e. is it paperless)?

Is there a link to the laboratory results?

Are there any electronic links with primary care (pharmacy and GP systems) to allow a clear and concise medication profile for the patient to be passed over to primary care?

Very few 'prescribing' systems out there satisfy the nursing, prescriber and pharmacy (stock-control) business requirements.

Not wishing to sound negative but just thought I'd mention some of the things that spring to mind. Any movement forward with regards to e-Prescribing is of course to be congratulated.

e-Discharge Summary

18 Oct 07 11:09

I understand that Ascribe and iSOFT (plus some other vendors) have software "available now" that will enable the creation of an electronic hospital discharge summary for GP's. This includes relevant diagnosis/treatment details of the inpatient stay and a structured discharge medicaton profile. I am suprised that relatively few English NHS trusts have made this software available to their clinicians and would challenge all trusts to review what products/modules are available and aim to have this essential software up and running in the next 6-12 months.