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‘Automation allows pharmacies to fill more orders more quickly; freeing pharmacy staff up to do essential tasks and provide services that can’t be automated’


– members of the pharmacy team are increasingly being tasked with the preparation of MDS, which is a time- consuming task for all concerned.


With an increasingly-ageing population, rising co-morbidities and prescription volumes increasing year on year, there’s a demand for greater efficiency.


With over 100 million items dispensed in Scotland annually, and a significant number of reported medication errors, many pharmacies are left with the stark choice of restricting the number of medicines dosage systems (MDSs) they can safely deliver, or finding resource-efficient ways of scaling up.


at a time when Scottish community pharmacists are being asked to provide an increasingly clinical function, many are finding their time – and their staff’s time – taken up with this non cost-effective task.


as a result, many pharmacies are now introducing systems, which can fill, label and automatically store MDS. Whether dispensing repeats or managing calendar packs, pouches or trays, automation offers complete control over the process, ensuring compliance and peace of mind.


Syncing records


labelling and dispensing medications. By automating work practices, pharmacies are able to reduce the number of staff required, thereby reducing labour costs and simultaneously reducing stress in the work environment.


Greater accuracy accuracy is a vital concern for pharmacy. after all, there are few other professions in which a simple error can cause adverse effects or even kill someone. yet even the most careful pharmacist or pharmacy technician can make a mistake and, in fact, research has shown that there is one error in every 55 prescriptions filled at a traditional retail pharmacy.


getting the right medication to the right patient at the right time is at the core of the pharmacy business. The need to remove any chance of errors occurring has led to the rise in the use of automation.


Better stock control The robot knows exactly the number of tablets that it has and knows what it is dispensing and so the combination of the two ensures that stock levels are ideal.


Greater security and confidentiality


While humans can make errors when contacting patients about their prescriptions or when following security protocols for drugs like opiates, automation can eliminate these possibilities for error.


Better compliance Pharmaceutical regulations are constantly changing. Systems are now available that check a pharmacy’s practices against regulations and alert pharmacy teams to noncompliance scenarios.


Greater efficiency across Scotland – and indeed the uK


until recently, pharmacists have always had to manually enter information about medication dispensing, even if the medication itself has been automatically dispensed.


Patients’ records can now be recorded digitally once a medicine has been dispensed and this naturally provides greater security and reduces the chances of medication errors.


Increased patient interaction as mentioned above, pharmacy automation has been associated with significantly reducing the amount of physical workload on pharmacy staff.


as a result, pharmacists are provided with more time that can be used to counsel patients on medication instructions and answer any questions, thereby ultimately improving patient care.


This is particularly important in Scotland with the increase in patient- facing services that are offered on a national basis.


at the end of July, for example, nhS Pharmacy First Scotland was launched. This new service replaces the Minor ailments Service and offers consultations and advice to patients with minor illnesses in community pharmacies.


The introduction of automation in many community pharmacies has freed up the pharmacy team’s time and has enabled them to provide not only the services offered by Pharmacy First but a range of other patient- facing services which require one-to-one consultations.


So what services can automation provide?


Dispensing medication Many modern systems provide greater safety and sterility for medication. Machines provide a range of services, from automatically filling blister packs for patients to robots filling vials and pouches.


The robotic process is simple and highly efficient. Once a prescription is entered into a pharmacy computer system, a robotic arm determines the correct size vial, then finds the specified drug. The arm then places the vial on a short conveyer belt and the patient label is applied, complete with medication warning labels.


While automation has long been a standard fixture in large health systems, newer generations of community pharmacy automation have made dispensing robots cost- effective for pharmacies with prescription volumes as low as 150 per day.


The key to maximising robot use is selecting the correct drugs for robotic dispensing. In most pharmacies, which have a robot, the top 100 to 200 products dispensed are usually loaded into the robot.


When automation moves into a pharmacy, pharmacists and technicians spend less time counting and pouring and more time in managing technology. Dispensing robots free up pharmacists and technicians to carry out clinical services that require human interaction. as such they move into more patient-centred, non- distribution roles that enhance the clinical role that pharmacy is increasingly plays.


ScOTTISh PharMacIST - 27


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