Medication monitoring – a digital shift welcomed by Ward 8
Twenty-eight inpatients at Moseley Hall hospital are the first at the Trust to benefit from a new way of keeping track of their medication.
Traditionally, in an inpatient setting, clinical and medication information is often recorded via paper notes and drug charts located by the patient’s bedside. As part of the Trust’s strategic initiatives and a national mandate to increase Electronic Patient Record (EPR) adoption, a need was identified by colleagues across the Trust to improve the way we record and monitor inpatient’s medical information, moving to a more efficient, digital approach.
Our Electronic Patient Records team, with the support and trust of colleagues on Ward 8, recently piloted the shift to recording and administrating drug information via an Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) system called MedChart.
This new way of working has helped to build a clearer picture of each patient’s medication, improve communication between nursing, medical and pharmacy staff and minimise manual, paper chart-based errors.
Both Annmarie Walchester, Ward Matron and Shanese Malcolm, Clinical Team Leader on Ward 8 have played an instrumental part in the implementation of MedChart.
Shanese said:
“The MedChart has brought about positive change, it increases accessibility for the team, it is more efficient and saves us much needed time that we can spend one to one with the patients.”
Jesina Kirby, Digital Clinical Information Officer commented:
“It’s great to see how Ward 8 has adopted this new change and really embraced using MedChart. The new EPMA system has improved patient safety, which was the ultimate goal. The pilot would not have been a success without the involvement of Annmaire and Shanese.”
Ward 8, located at Moseley Hall Hospital in the south of Birmingham is a 28 bedded inpatient ward that aims to support the rehabilitation of people who have had a stroke. The ward comprises of many different healthcare professionals, from doctors, nurses and physiotherapist physiotherapists, offering around the clock care.
Plans are currently underway to begin implementing the system across other wards at Moseley Hall and West Health Hospitals from March to June 2025.
Jesina (pictured left) and Shanese (pictured right)