NTW Solutions has taken on the management of Omnicell cabinets across the Trust, joining a wide range of other support services the company provides to CNTW. The Cabinets join DEIDRIE, another Omnicell product, which is our high-tech pharmacy dispensing robot.
Omnicell cabinets are a key part of daily work on wards, giving staff secure access to medicines, real-time stock information and safer ways to manage medication.
Responsibility for the cabinets has moved to NTW Solutions as part of a new managed service. NTW Solutions already provides technical support for the cabinets through our digital services team and the direct management of them deepens the service integration.
Alongside the cabinets NTW Solutions already maintains a wide range of medical devices across CNTW and also provides the Outpatient Pharmacy service so has the proven expertise needed to manage the cabinets.
There are 50 cabinets already in place with 32 about to be replaced to a newer model so it is the perfect time to make the switch and NTW Solutions will oversee the rollout of the new cabinets.
This is a great example of what NTW Solutions was set up to do, freeing up time and capacity in the Trust to focus on clinical care, while we deliver high quality support services.
It reflects how NTW Solutions continues to take on new responsibilities that make a practical difference to staff and ultimately support better care.
All processes and contact details are the same and can be found on the Omnicell page of the intranet
Out and about with Sarah from Digital Services
“Omnicell cabinets were first rolled out at Hopewood Park as part of the new build at the time and they proved their worth so were then provided elsewhere. Essentially they are about ensuring safe access to medication and they log every time staff access the cabinet.
“They have in built safety controls for example access to controlled medication it requires two staff to access the cabinet at the same time. Not only are they safer but they save staff time as there’s less paperwork and the medication can be on the ward rather than in a central pharmacy.
“Many older cabinets are being replaced and my role in Digital Services is to test the new ones as they come over and we accept them from the manufacturer and the project is being led by the Pharmacy Team.
“We work alongside colleagues from Pharmacy who configure the cabinet, allowing us to then complete our testing to ensure it is working as expected. We work with our infrastructure colleagues in Digital Services and the supplier to ensure technical readiness for the installation of the cabinets.
“One of the main issues is that they all get delivered in a batch and we need somewhere to store them that has access to data points so that we can work on them before they head off to the ward. It’s no small challenge. They are installed on wards to fit around drug rounds so it’s not disruptive.
“Once the cabinets have been moved on to the wards, the old cabinets are then stored while their collection is organised. They require their hard-drives and consoles to be removed and our technical colleagues have assisted with recycling these parts.”
“It’s quite a lot logistically and there are a lot of teams involved and it’s taken a huge amount of planning and coordination by the Pharmacy Team but it’s satisfying to be a part of that and see them going in and working as they should.”
