Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust goes live with ‘big bang’ EPMA deployment
The implementation of the Better Meds electronic prescribing and medication management system took place over a single weekend, thanks to the efforts of more than 200 staff from across the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care System.
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has successfully implemented the Better Meds electronic prescribing and medicine management (EPMA) system across all 18 adult inpatient wards at Darent Valley Hospital. The system, integrated with the trust’s electronic patient records (EPR) provided by Alcidion, was deployed over a single weekend to enhance medication safety and efficiency.
During the two-day transition, more than 500 paper drug charts and 8,000 prescriptions were digitised by a dedicated clinical team, with a team of healthcare staff and digital support assisting throughout the process.
Dr Guy Sisson, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer at the trust, highlighted the collaborative effort: “The implementation was an incredible effort with months of planning which led to over 200 healthcare staff from across the integrated care system joining forces to support the go-live weekend.”
The EPMA system is designed to streamline medication administration and prescribing, reducing time spent on these tasks and improving workflows for both nurses and doctors. Early feedback from staff indicates faster medication rounds and more efficient prescribing. The system also features decision support, including drug interaction alerts, high-dose alerts and allergy checks, enhancing patient safety and offering reassurance to staff providing care.
Additionally, the EPMA system provides real-time access to dose-level data, which was previously data-based, enabling the trust to analyse and improve medication safety practices, further improving patient care quality.
Julia Scott, Pharmacist and Senior Responsible Owner for the EPR Programme said: “This Better Meds implementation will allow us to deliver medication safety improvements on a whole-system scale. EPMA allows us to implement strong barriers to error for high-risk medication, whereas in the past we were reliant on weak barriers such as training and guidelines. We can also build data-driven safety nets to allow us to rapidly identify potential high-risk prescribing and intervene quickly. It is genuinely transformative when it comes to a human factor’s approach to safety”.
Dr Guy Sisson added: “Our vision is to be an outstanding hospital trust providing the best possible care for our patients that is safe, well-coordinated, in the right place and designed around the person’s needs. Our new EPMA system is perfectly aligned and a true digital representation of our aspirations. I want to congratulate everyone involved and personally thank them for getting the system over the line, which is a monumental step towards where we want to be.”
In 2019, Dartford and Gravesham procured Alcidion’s Miya Precision to advance its digital maturity. By integrating Better Meds’ electronic prescribing into the Alcidion EPR, drug information is now seamlessly connected with patient assessments, allergies, key lab results, and more. This enhances safety for prescribers and saves clinicians time by offering standardised order sets and allowing multiple users to view and use the medication record simultaneously.
Future phases of the implementation will include outpatient clinics and other speciality areas, such as maternity and paediatrics. It will also be rolled out across inpatient wards at the trust’s other main site, Queen Mary’s Hospital, to support surgical elective care.
Alja Babič, Better Meds Implementation Consultancy Lead at Better, said: “It’s been a pleasure supporting Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust to optimise prescribing and medicine management. The ‘big bang’ rollout was one of the best we’ve been involved in. It was smooth, well-planned and expertly managed, and the team should be extremely pleased with the progress made. Dartford and Gravesham’s commitment and great energy have been clear while working together. We are celebrating this being our 9th Better Meds go-live in the UK and look forward to working further on improving medication management processes.”
Kate Quirke, Alcidion CEO, said: “It was inspiring to witness the dedication and extensive collaboration that led to the success of this rollout. We are proud to support Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust as they continue to expand and improve upon their digital infrastructure. We are also grateful for our partners like Better, who share in our belief that smart technology can drive meaningful change. We look forward to continuing this journey together, building on our joint commitment to innovation and progress.”
