Bucks health trust to receive £1.6 million towards new technology which aims to cut out medical errors

Health Minister Stephen Hammond announced earlier this week that Bucks was one of several NHS trusts from around the country to receive a share of £78 million in national funding to support the new technology which aims to reduce 'deadly medical errors' by potentially up to 50%.

Bucks NHS trust claim the new systems could reduce medical errors by half compared to the old paper systems, build up a complete electronic record, ensure rapid access to potentially lifesaving information on prescribed medicines and reduce duplication of information gathering.

A trust spokesman said: "The implementation of full ePMA across healthcare organisations delivers a step change in quality and safety for patients, with evidence pointing to a reduction of around 50% in relation to high risk medication errors.

"These systems when implemented for in-patient, discharge, homecare and out-patients also support improved efficiency in the use of resources including medicines and the clinical workforce.

"In addition they will support improvements in the NHS’s understanding of the real benefits for medicines and the impact they have on patients health and care quality.

"Increasing the use of digital systems in healthcare means that data from patient records, imaging and digital diagnostics can be used to support and inform management of a disease."

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 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.”