Funded by NHS England as a ‘first-of-type' project, the initiative integrates Omnicell's automated dispensing cabinets and robotic dispensing system, with Oracle Health's EPR. While this functionality has already been successfully deployed in the US, this project marks its first-ever implementation within England.

Professor Tracey Brigstock, chief nursing officer at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, said: ‘For our nursing teams, this new system means they can begin a medication round knowing exactly where medicines are, how to obtain them, and that the process is both efficient and safe. For patients, it reduces delays and builds safety into every step of the medicines pathway.'

Previously having to navigate multiple separate systems to prescribe, locate and dispense medication, clinicians now have real-time visibility of stock levels across the entire hospital directly within the patient's EPR - what is stocked on the wards, what is available elsewhere and what needs to be ordered from central pharmacy.