Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has partnered with Better and Alcidion to successfully roll out the Better Meds electronic prescribing and medicine management (EPMA) system, and integrate it into the trust’s EPR system provided by Alcidion.
The major deployment saw all 18 adult inpatient wards at the Darent Valley Hospital site go live over one weekend in a move to make it safer, faster and easier to prescribe and administer medicines.
During the two days, a dedicated clinical team carefully transcribed more than 500 paper drug charts and 8,000 prescriptions into the system. As each ward went live, and the first e-prescribing and EPMA drug rounds took place, a team of superuser digital heroes were on hand assisting staff through the process.
Dr. Guy Sisson, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer at Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, said: “The implementation was an incredible effort with months of planning which led to over 200 healthcare staff from across the integrated care system joining forces to support the go-live weekend.”
A key reason for moving to Better Meds was to release time for care because it makes medication processes more efficient. Even in the early stages of post go-live this has been confirmed, with the vast majority of ward nurses quickly reporting that it makes medication rounds substantially quicker. The same is true for doctors who are benefiting from easier and faster workflows for prescribing.
While delivering care, staff receive Better Meds’ digital prescriptions that are legible, complete and include decision support, such as drug interaction, high-dose alerts and automated allergy checking. This provides support and reassurance to staff providing care.
With the introduction of EPMA, the trust will have instant access to dose-level data reporting which was previously trapped in paper and can now be analysed to implement medication safety improvements. The range of benefits realised will enhance patient care quality by driving a more efficient and safer service.
Julia Scott, Pharmacist and Senior Responsible Owner for the EPR Programme said: “This Better Meds implementation will allow us to deliver medication safety improvements on a whole-system scale. EPMA allows us to implement strong barriers to error for high-risk medication, whereas in the past we were reliant on weak barriers such as training and guidelines.
"We can also build data-driven safety nets to allow us to rapidly identify potential high-risk prescribing and intervene quickly. It is genuinely transformative when it comes to a human factors approach to safety”.
Dr. Guy Sisson, added: “Our vision is to be an outstanding hospital trust providing the best possible care for our patients that is safe, well-coordinated, in the right place and designed around the person’s needs. Our new EPMA system is perfectly aligned and a true digital representation of our aspirations. I want to congratulate everyone involved and personally thank them for getting the system over the line, which is a monumental step towards where we want to be.”
In 2019, Dartford and Gravesham procured Alcidion’s Miya Precision to advance their digital maturity. By integrating Better Meds’ electronic prescribing into the Alcidion EPR, drug information is now seamlessly connected with patient assessments, allergies, key lab results, and more. This enhances safety for prescribers and saves clinicians time by offering standardised order sets and allowing multiple users to view and use the medication record simultaneously.
Future phases of the implementation will include outpatient clinics and other speciality areas, such as maternity and paediatrics. It will also be rolled out across inpatient wards at the trust’s other main site, Queen Mary’s Hospital, to support surgical elective care.
Alja Babič, Better Meds Implementation Consultancy Lead, said: “It’s been a pleasure supporting Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust to optimise prescribing and medicine management. The ‘big bang’ rollout was one of the best we’ve been involved in. It was smooth, well-planned and expertly managed, and the team should be extremely pleased with the progress made.
"Dartford and Gravesham’s commitment and great energy have been clear while working together. We are celebrating this being our 9th Better Meds go-live in the UK and look forward to working further on improving medication management processes.“
Kate Quirke, Alcidion CEO, said: “It was inspiring to witness the dedication and extensive collaboration that led to the success of this rollout. We are proud to support Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust as they continue to expand and improve upon their digital infrastructure."
