Sutton Court Care Centre, a care home in South West London, has always been at the forefront of adopting innovative solutions to enhance their quality of care. Their recent medication administration digitalisation saw the successful implementation of Camascope's eMAR system. While hesitant at first due to the unfamiliar adjustment away from paper-based MAR charts, improvements in medication processes were quickly recognised.
Sutton Court’s recent CQC report praised the outstanding leadership of the home and commended the implementation of eMAR. The report specifically highlighted the system's ability to effectively schedule and monitor time-sensitive medications, as well as PRNs for pain relief:
"A new electronic medicine administration record (eMAR) had been introduced which informed staff what medicines people received and when. We saw that accurate records were maintained of the medicines administered. The new system also gave a countdown of time in-between doses for medicines that were time critical so staff were able to easily identify when a person required their next dose, for example in relation to pain relief."
The CQC further referenced the increased communication gained through Camascope's eMAR system, which led to a more proactive and responsive approach to medication management:
"The system allows the pharmacist to access this information and they can monitor practices and stock levels. For one person the home identified that a medicine had not been supplied by the pharmacy. By looking at the person's eMAR and their GP records through the shared care records they could identify that the GP had made the change to the person's prescription that day and then get this sent through to the pharmacy to be dispensed with their other medicines, providing a more responsive approach to medicines management."
In light of Sutton Court's very positive CQC report, we spoke to Marie Bannister (Care Home Manager) and Nick Dagasuhan (Clinical Lead Nurse) to gain insights into their perspective on Sutton Court's successful eMAR implementation.
How has eMAR proven beneficial to Sutton Court?
Marie - "eMAR allows the Manager peace of mind knowing that any medications skipped will request the manager's approval, reducing medication errors without delay. With paper MARs, staff spent 5-7 minutes on each resident looking backwards and forwards double-checking, whereas eMAR is much quicker. The chronological display of administration schedules, along with easy visualisation of due medications saves valuable time for us."
Nick - "eMAR, in a nutshell, has allowed us to deliver medication administrations in a timely fashion and has given us now the hours back that we have lost before using the system. The most useful features are re-ordering meds, auditing and stock control. It also has minimised medication errors and allows us to incorporate our local PRN protocols. eMAR has been an instrumental system that enables us to save time during drug rounds, and we were able to use this quality time for the residents."
How does eMAR contribute to achieving a positive CQC inspection?
Marie - "The inspectors were positively taken aback by the system and pleased to access all the information at a glance on the dashboard and, more importantly, rectify any anomalies immediately."
Nick - "eMAR contributed to a positive impact within our CQC inspection by being innovative and enhancing safety for our service users and building confidence with staff using the system."
What would your advice be to other care homes considering eMAR?
Marie - "eMAR is a 'Must' for all Care Homes and if you are having any doubt, don't. Somehow, I wondered why we did not have this system earlier! "
Nick - "My advice to other care homes is that, due to the long-term demands of care provisions and constant time pressure, there are other ways and approaches to consider to make a difference for someone that matters the most, but time is limited. eMAR made it possible for us. So, make a difference and make your choice to save time and use the time where it is more needed."
If you’d like to know how Camascope's new eMAR solution can work for your organisation, contact us to find out more.
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