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Scotland's First Robotic Hospital Pharmacy Opens

Scotland’s first fully robotic hospital pharmacy has been opened at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, which will enable the sharing of electronic care plans between acute care and the patient’s community pharmacist.

The robotic system automatically loads, picks, dispenses and labels medicines while the electronic e-Ward system holds patient demographics, clinical diagnosis and treatment plans.

An electronic system where community pharmacies are sent a pharmaceutical care note when a patient is discharged from hospital is running in 70 pharmacies across the Forth Valley area. Pharmacists using the system say it has allowed them to plan for patients with unusual doses, making ordering and accessing stock easier.

Campbell Shimmins of Woodside Pharmacy, Doune, said: “The electronic system avoids transcription errors so nothing can be overlooked and allows us to pre-empt any issues. So far the system has been seamless and the new robot in the dispensary can only make it better.”

Sophie Payne