Bristol tech pioneer Invatech Health has secured a contract to supply 90 UK care homes with a system that helps improve medication safety, accountability and efficiency.
The deal with Sanctuary Care, one of the UK’s largest care home firms, will roll out Invatech’s Atlas electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) product across its national care home network.
The new relationship is set to improve medication processes for Sanctuary Care’s 5,000 residents and its staff, as well as enabling closer working with local GPs and pharmacies.
These include independent pharmacists local to Sanctuary’s homes who, through Atlas, have a new business opportunity with a large care home provider, in a market previously dominated by high street pharmacy chains.
Sanctuary Care’s homes were previously supplied by one such chain but, with 40,000 prescriptions dispensed across the network each month, the new contract now offers half a million prescriptions a year to independent pharmacists in the UK.
eMARs offer significant safety and efficiency advantages over traditional paper-based methods, reducing paperwork and administration for staff and freeing them to spend more time delivering high-quality care to residents.
Atlas has been introduced on a pilot basis at two of Sanctuary Care’s homes which have each worked with a local pharmacy to implement the system before it is rolled out more widely.
Invatech Health chairman Prof Clive Bowman said: “The Atlas eMAR system is built to deliver the very best functionality for both the care homes administering medications and the local pharmacies prescribing them.
“The rigorous due diligence which Sanctuary Care applied during the tendering process should be applauded and we are delighted that Sanctuary has recognised the considerable benefits in safety and efficiency that an eMAR can bring.”
Dedicated training has been provided to staff through the implementation of the new technology to ensure a smooth transformation from the paper-based approach.
Sanctuary Care senior programme manager Jemma Robinson embracing advances in care home technology enabled the firm to enhance the quality of care it provides and further enrich its residents’ lives.
“We have already rolled out a bespoke care planning app for our staff, and the next natural step in our digital journey is the introduction of an electronic medication management system, simplifying the process and making it more efficient for all involved,” she said.
“We conducted a robust tender process to identify the best possible solution for our needs based on whole market research and are pleased to be working with Invatech Health. We now look forward to the benefits this technology will bring to the nurses, carers and residents in our care homes.”
The contract with Sanctuary Care, which was won in a competitive Europe-wide tendering process, follows the launch in August of Invatech’s revolutionary new cloud-based Titan Patient Medication Record (PMR) system following the first industry accreditation from the NHS in more than a decade.
Titan speeds up the workflow in pharmacies to benefit patients and the practice itself.
Atlas and Titan are compatible and, following the contract award with Sanctuary Care, this new venture into the care home market furthers the revolution which Invatech hopes to bring to the independent pharmacy sector.
Invatech Health CEO Tariq Muhammad said: “One of our major ambitions is to transform medicine management in care homes for residents and staff and working with Sanctuary Care, one of the biggest providers of care in the UK, is a major step towards achieving this.
“We also want to provide fantastic new opportunities for local independent pharmacists who for decades, were denied the opportunity to provide pharmacy services to large care home operators.
“So through the use of our technology, both at the care home and the pharmacy, we are able to connect Sanctuary’s care homes across the country to local pharmacies, giving great local service and improving local businesses whilst ensuring governance and control through the software.
“We believe this model is a game-changer benefiting all stakeholders.”
Pictured: Invatech Health chairman Prof Clive Bowman, centre, with representatives from Sanctuary Care
