The Robot
Our Robot has helped to revolutionise the way the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital dispenses medicines. The pharmacy dispensing robot processes computerised drug orders from pharmacy staff. The £486,000 system holds 40,000 drugs and has improved stock control. Previously, medicines were picked by hand, but the new system is faster and 100% accurate.
Pharmacy staff order the medication and generate the labels from their computers and drugs are picked by the robot and then sent down a chute to the dispenser's desk in seconds. There are many advantages of robotic dispensing, including the fact that it reduces the risk of dispensing errors and cuts down on waste by monitoring expiry dates.
It is the first quadruple system in the world and uses the more advanced Extent technology along with automatic loading.