Northern Ireland Health and Social Care (HSC) has procured a pan-Northern Ireland Pharmacy Software Solution for the Business Services Organisation (BSO) Information and Technology Service (ITS). The contract has been awarded to JAC Computer Services Limited (JAC), under a Technology Partnership Agreement that BSO has with HP.
The requirement for the pan-Northern Ireland Pharmacy Software Solution will be met by the implementation of the new Enterprise Release Version 5, developed by JAC, the UK’s leading medicine management systems specialist. This supports multiple sites on a single system, with a common master drug catalogue, supplier file and patient file.
All HSC sites in Northern Ireland will share the same master files and access can be configured to support local requirements. This will provide a single dispensing record for each patient across Northern Ireland and means that a patient's dispensing history can be viewed as they move between sites, supporting continuity of care.
The Enterprise system will deliver the key objectives of HSC to:
- Support a range of pharmaceutical actions directed to improving the healthcare outcomes of patients
- Generate efficiencies in stock management and dispensing processes, including aligning coding standards and business processes across the region
- Provide the information required to implement performance and risk management and the devolvement of budget responsibility within Trusts
- Make more efficient use of storage space within the existing pharmacies
- Support the ongoing delivery and development of the Medicines Management initiative and e-Prescribing.
Dr Norman Morrow, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer at the Department of Health and Social Care said: "The implementation of this new system will significantly modernise the technology support to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our pharmacy and medicines management services."
Rob Tysall-Blay CEO JAC Computer Services Ltd said: "Northern Ireland HSC were looking for a single system that could support all of its Trusts and organisations, to enable truly joined-up medications management that follows patients along their pathways of care. This will not only enable more effective and efficient control of drug usage, but will also realise significant economies for the HSC. This is truly a landmark project in the UK, and I believe it will be the model for future large-scale deployments."
JAC's Enterprise Release Version 5, is currently being rolled out across 41 hospitals in Western Province South Africa, and is based on the proven platform already deployed in over half of the NHS trusts in England.
About JAC
JAC is the UK's leading medicine management systems specialist, with the largest installed base of Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration systems in UK hospitals. These systems improve patient safety by reducing prescribing and administration mistakes that could result in medication errors and adverse drug events.
With over 20 years experience within medicines management, JAC provides pharmacy stock control, e-prescribing and medicines administration as a single integrated solution along with associated services and third-party interfaces. JAC is also the exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland of ServeRx ward-based automation technologies for medicines and medical equipment.
JAC's systems are used in more than half of all NHS trusts in England as well as sites in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and South Africa.