07.29.2024 PCS
Marie Louise House (MLH) Nursing Home, Hampshire is managed by the Healthcare Management Trust (HMT), a not for profit organisation. The home comprises of three units. The Nightingale Unit provides care for up to 10 people who are living with dementia and have associated health and social care needs. The Kingfisher and Skylark Units each provide care to 18 people who require either residential or nursing care.
Jasper Rabang has been in the care home sector since 2005 and is now the Unit Lead at MLH. He is first contact for Medicines Management at MLH Nursing homes. Jasper provides his take on the implementation of ATLAS eMAR technology to enhance medicines management for nursing home residents.
The Benefits of ATLAS eMAR
ATLAS technology replaces traditional MAR records. Using the technology in our home alleviates having multiple copies of prescriptions and allows my team to identify any changes to on medication and instructions for residents ahead of schedule. ATLAS is thus easy and prompts a good audit trail of medicines prescribed and issued. My colleagues and I can see where medicines might have near expired dates - ATLAS allows us to reduce over-stocking and medicines wastage.
Where were your challenges? How have you overcome them?
Traditional MARs records compromised aspects of our medicines management for residents. Because everything used to be hand-written, there were issues in tracing back which member of staff signed and dated administration. We also had issues in tracking whether prescriptions had been completed from GP and pharmacists; ATLAS eMAR allows us to track stages from prescription, to administration. We can manage our medicines stock levels and the technology allows smarter integration of what's happening. Before ATLAS eMAR implementation, we had various issues with communication between surgeries, pharmacy and home. We had a lot of medicines wastage owing to overstocking and the instructions on for medicines were inconsistent.
What can you do now, that you couldn't before?
Traditional MARs was time-consuming booking in medication because there was no barcode scanning involved. Using ATLAS, we are now more efficient because the technology produces a daily report of the Unit and Staff performance relating to all administrations. ATLAS ultimately reduces drug errors, allows history review and archiving. Very good in data protection when technology is not being used. Staff have their own username and login details, and this is important for accountability.
"ATLAS eMAR - The paper light Solution for Care Home Staff. It so simple to use, and visually accessible"
Jasper Rabang, Register Nurse and Unit Lead
Marie Louise House Nursing Home
Making the Decision
We have chosen ATLAS eMAR to implement a medicines management system and process that works, easy to follow, and can help provide information at a fraction of time compared to traditional MARs. The applications allow us to streamline our workflow smarter and free up our time to focus attention on residents who require one-to-one care. This helps also help in the consolidation of medicines management processes.
Moving Forward
I would recommend ATLAS eMAR because it helps focus medicines management workload better, especially in a time where the CQC are ever-more ensuring care home guidelines are being met. Having used several systems and providers before, I can honestly say that ATLAS eMAR has made our practice safer, communication smarter and has overall improved our way of working and meeting timelines. It is so simple to use. There is no bulky storage for MARs, no bulky medication folders to carry around during medication and GP rounds.
Find out more about ATLAS eMAR Technology can support your medicines management needs in your care home.
"ATLAS eMAR allows us to free up our time to focus attention on residents who require one-to-one care"
Jasper Rabang, Register Nurse and Unit Lead
Marie Louise House Nursing Home
