Contribution of a ward-based technician service to delivering effective patient health care and reducing dispensary workload

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine whether introduction of a ward-based technician service reduces medication administration errors and decreases pharmacy workload. Method Information on the incidence of unavailable medication administration errors (U-MAEs), number of calls to pharmacy, volume of weekend medicine supply and workload of the non-stock supply (NSS) pharmacist was compared during a two-week period prior to the implementation of a ward-based technician service (control period) and a two-week period after the introduction of the service (study period). Setting Five wards (two acute admission wards and three care of the elderly medical wards) at Bristol Royal Infirmary with a perceived high workload. Key findings When a ward-based technician service was implemented the number of U-MAEs was almost halved (46 per cent reduction), and there was a 60 per cent reduction in the number of telephone calls from the five pilot wards to the dispensary. Overall, there was a decrease in the number of item requests during the weekend; however, the number of items requested from the non stock supply pharmacist increased from 51 to 58 (14 per cent). Conclusion Following the introduction of the ward-based technician service, patient care has improved as medicines are available more reliably, and the work life of the pharmacy team has benefited.