Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCU) is preparing to deploy an electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) system to digitise the lifecycle of prescriptions.
It is working with healthcare tech provider Better on the implementation phase for using ePMA Better Meds system and plans to have it in place by March 2026.
This will replace paper based processes with digital workflows across over 40 hospital and community sites to manage patients’ medication records and prescribe medications.
Better said that digitising these workflows will make prescribing far more efficient and will drive improvements in patient safety and medicine management governance, along with reducing spending on medicine administration.
First stage in strategy
Mandy Jones, deputy executive director of nursing and senior responsible officer at BCU, said: “This is an important project because it is the first stage in our electronic health record strategy. It will transform services across our hospitals to streamline processes for the benefit of patients and staff.
“We've taken a user-centred design approach and brought together a team of clinicians, nurses, and pharmacy staff who have engaged with users across many of our services to get their input into how this is going to work.
“We are one of the first in Wales to start this work, which will support Digital Health and Care Wales’ programme.
“These wider Welsh Government initiatives will support breaking through organisational boundaries and create a shared medicines record across Wales. We will be working closely with the national team and other health boards to share learnings and insights to achieve the wider national objectives.”
BCU is the largest health board in Wales, supporting more than 700,000 people across six counties in the north of the country.
