Health minister and Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman has praised a new electronic prescribing system at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital which will make huge paper charts a thing of the past.

The system means doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists will all be able to access a patient's drug chart without having to see a physical copy.

Specialist pharmacist James Hipperson, who has been working on the Electronic Prescribing and Medication Administration system (EPMA) project, said: 'A lot of people need to look at drug charts, and now they are electronic it will save a lot of time as they can be accessed from offices and other parts of the hospital.

'This is particularly useful for the pharmacy as the chart used to be taken to them.'

The charts are now available on special laptop trolleys which nurses take around the ward and administer the correct medicine at the patient's bedside.

The hospital said it also prevented any mistakes being made as the chart had to be filled in properly, and there was no chance of misreading someone's writing.

Mr Freeman, who passed a law through Parliament mandating digital health records for patients, visited the hospital yesterday to see the system, and thank staff who will be working over Christmas.

He said: 'As minister for the NHS drugs budget, I was delighted to see the digital prescription service and to hear from the ward sister how it had significantly reduced avoidable errors in dosing and prescriptions, and allows the hospital to identify which type of patients respond best to which drugs, and to change drugs dosage to maximise patient benefit.'

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