Rutand Late night Pharmacy in Oakham introduces robot technology to dispense medication

A robot is helping pharmacists to manage their growing workloads and spend more time with patients.

Rutland Late Night Pharmacy in Oakham has introduced a robot-controlled dispensing system for medication.

The new technology will speed up the dispensing process and give staff more time for face-to-face consultations with customers who need their help.

Its installation follows increased demand for pharmacy services.

Clinical pharmacist and partner Mohammed Ibrahim said: “With increased pressures everywhere in the NHS, community pharmacies are not immune. Over the last few years there has been a substantial increase in demand for community pharmacy dispensing services and we are being asked to offer more services to support patients so pressures in other areas of the NHS are reduced.

“We are delighted to be able to offer such enhanced services, however this does mean we have to look for ways to free up our staff to do so. The sole aim of the robotic system is to allow our staff to see more patients.”

The robot is used for dispensing medication into dossette trays. These storage containers are divided into smaller segments and labelled with different times of the day to help people take their medication at the correct time.

The machine is stocked with medication cartridges and linked to a software system which feeds it the relevant information for each patient. It selects the required medication and drops it into the dossette trays ready to be verified by staff before its handed to the patient.

Lead pharmacist and owner Huzefa Broachwalla has assured patients the robot will not replace human staff.

Pharmacy manager Emma Holt added: “Having the robot has freed up time for our team to support more patients and customers. We usually have three clinical pharmacists on duty at Rutland Pharmacy and now our pharmacists will have more time to see the increasing number of patients who come straight to us for their healthcare needs.”

The pharmacy is able to accept new patients who require their medication to be dispensed into a dossette tray. Anyone who might benefit from the service can find out more at the pharmacy in High Street, Oakham.

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