St. Richard's Hospital and Worthing Hospital, part of the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, has selected the Ultimate™ labelling system from Episys, the global information technology solutions and services company, to improve the security and audit trail on the labelling of drugs.
Episys was recommended by Southlands Hospital, the third hospital that forms the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS trust, which is also using the Ultimate labelling system from Episys. The hospitals are currently in the set-up phase and will be looking to 'go live' after training is complete.
Bernice Smart, Technician Team Manager, Aseptics Services at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, said, "Our aseptic units get regularly audited and during a recent audit we weren't graded as highly on our drug labelling as we would have liked. We are always seeking to improve the ways we safeguard patient safety and confidentiality and so decided we needed a new system in place that could address these issues.
"We were already using the Episys labelling system at our Southlands division, and so after the merger of all three hospitals two years ago, it made perfect sense for us to use the same system across all sites. This means that if a member of staff is transferred to a different hospital, they are able to use the same system as they are familiar to it; therefore, no time is wasted training them up and no errors are made."
Peter Lewis, Episys Marketing Director, adds: "Although St. Richards Hospital and Worthing Hospital are not using the Episys Ultimate system yet, they are fully aware of the benefits the solution will bring. Patient safely is at the forefront of all hospitals, and by switching to Episys, they will be able to improve their marks in time for their next audit."