£16 million to introduce digital prescribing in hospitals

The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that 16 hospitals across England will receive a share of nearly £16 million to introduce electronic prescriptions.

These complete, single electronic records have helped improve patient safety across the NHS and save staff time, which they can spend on patients. Instead of relying on handwritten notes and paper medicine charts, staff can now quickly access potentially life-saving information on prescribed medicines and patient history. This can also reduce medication errors by up to 30 per cent when compared with the old paper systems.

The funding is part of a £78 million investment to achieve the NHS Long Term Plan commitment to eliminate paper prescribing in hospitals and introduce digital prescribing across the entire NHS by 2024.

Since 2018, 216 NHS trusts have received a share of this fund and the proportion of trusts with an electronic prescriptions and medicines administration (ePMA) system is expected to have risen from 19 per cent in 2018 to more than 80 per cent by March 2021.

Nadine Dorries, the Minister for Patient Safety, said: “We are determined to make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world. The introduction of digital prescribing systems has helped us reduce potentially deadly medication errors and save our hard-working staff valuable time, enabling them to dedicate their full attention and care to patients. As we enter what is set to be a challenging winter, the best way we can continue to protect patients and staff is if we all work together and continue to follow the national restrictions to suppress the virus.”

The 16 NHS trusts receiving the funding are: University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (£1,213,000); Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (£970,000); Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (£1,423,000); Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (£1,485,000); West London Mental Health NHS Trust (£1,308,000); Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (£1,485,000); Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust (£96,000); Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (£1,485,000); Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (£400,000); University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (£673,000); Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Trust (£882,000); Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust (£960,000); Medway NHS Foundation Trust (£1,485,000); Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust; (£342,000); Airedale NHS Foundation Trust (£534,000); and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (£1,188,000).