£2.5m plan for electronic prescriptions in Fife hospitals
Prescriptions in Fife hospitals are set to become safer and faster to issue with the approval of a new £2.5 million electronic prescribing system.
NHS Fife has rubber-stamped the business case for the new Hospital Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (HEPMA) system, which will move its hospitals away from traditional paper-based prescriptions.
It will give hospital staff full access to medication histories - including known drug allergies - and reduce the potential for the wrong medicines being prescribed.
It is also faster than paper-based prescribing, giving staff more time to attend to patients.
Implementation of the system, run by EMIS Health, is expected to take up to three years, pending formal approval by the Scottish Government. Ministers have agreed to fund £1.7m of the £2.5m cost.
Dr Chris McKenna, NHS Fife Medical Director, added: “Crucially, as more and more patients are treated with complex therapies, the system will reduce the opportunity for human error and ultimately improve patient safety as a result. “