Southampton connects JAC e-prescribing

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust will implement an e-prescribing system from JAC to integrate with its Ascribe patient administration system.

The trust went live with modules of the Ascribe eCAMIS PAS in November 2010.

It has now awarded JAC a contract to implement its Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA) system over the autumn.

Chair of the trust’s e-prescribing group, Martin Stephens, told eHealth Insider it was yet to be decided which department would be first to get the system.

However, he said the aim was to have the entire trust live “somewhere in the middle of between six months and several years”.

He said the trust had been considering e-prescribing for several years as part of its active safety programme, with safer medicines a key area for action.

“We are certain that a properly implemented e-prescribing and administration system will help protect our patients.”

Stephens said JAC’s tender was chosen over others simply because it presented better functionality and was the preferred option.

The trust has been using JAC’s Pharmacy Stock Control system for several years, and this will be fully integrated into the EPMA system.

That contract with JAC includes an upgrade to the Pharmacy Stock Control system to ensure full integration.

Stephens said the trust wanted to “learn as much as it can” from other sites that have implemented e-prescribing.

“Some trusts do it in no more than six months, while others take up to several years – we want to be somewhere in the middle.”

The trust provides services to 1.3m people living in Southampton and South Hampshire, as well as specialist services in neurosciences, cardiac treatment and children’s intensive care.