Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells roll out ePMA solution

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has successfully deployed Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) solution.

The new functionality will help to enable accurate, timely prescribing processes at the trust and improve patient safety through increased prescriber awareness. In addition, it is expected to enhance workflows, improving experiences for clinicians and releasing time for patient care.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells first went live with the Sunrise EPR in September 2021, before Allscripts rebranded to Altera Digital Health. The new ePMA roll-out is embedded within the EPR.

Mildred Johnson, chief pharmacist and chair of ePMA Project Board at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, said: “The system is going to completely transform ways of working for our pharmacists, many of whom are working digitally for the first time.”

She continued: “We expect this to be especially valuable in busy periods, when medication errors can be more likely. The system has been set up for an alert to be generated when there is a high-level drug interaction during the prescribing process.”

The on-call doctors and pharmacists at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells are now supported to prescribe remotely, as the system can be accessed from anywhere. This allows clinical staff to spend more time with their patients, rather than on the phone organising the prescription of medicines.

Jane Saunders, programme director for EPR and digital transformation at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, said: “The fact we have been able to achieve such rapid and impactful transformation is testament to the collaboration between our team and Altera Digital Health.

“Our mission is to offer outstanding care and this latest go-live is helping us to achieve that. Our digital journey is underpinned by our EPR, and this is a major step.”

The roll-out is the latest phase of the trust’s 10-year digital transformation strategy aimed at improving digital maturity.

The next step for the trust is to work towards piloting Electronic Discharge Notification (EDN) across four wards, as well as rolling-out the ePMA in maternity later this year, followed by paediatrics in 2024.

It also plans to deploy the Sunrise Surgical Care solution alongside the Provation iPro anaesthetic record later this year.