East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust to receive £1.7million funding to implement electronic prescribing

The Trust is to introduce a new electronic prescribing and medicines administration system and move away from handwritten prescriptions supported by £1.7million of additional funding from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Electronic prescribing will make the most effective use of medicines and improve patient safety. It will free up time for staff by moving away from paper-based systems, help to reduce medication errors and reduce duplication of information. It will enable clinical staff to have easier access to a complete electronic record of a patient’s medication along with faster access to potentially lifesaving information on prescribed medicines.

Simon Badcott Chief Pharmacist said: “We are delighted to receive this significant funding boost to enable us to introduce an electronic prescribing system with ESHT. There is strong evidence that electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems improve patient safety, reducing the risk of harm and ensuring high quality efficient patient care which is as safe as possible.”

Health Minister Stephen Hammond said: “As part of the long-term plan for the NHS, we not only want to harness technology to make it one of the most advanced healthcare systems in the world, but crucially to improve patient care. The £1.7 million provided for East Sussex will help to drive these changes to the patient experience, but will also aid our hard-working and dedicated staff. The introduction of electronic prescribing is not only known to reduce medication errors, but also frees up time for staff by moving away from archaic paper-based systems.”

It is anticipated this new electronic prescribing system will be rolled out across the Trust during 2019/20.