10th July 2013 – Ascribe is pleased to announce the successful Go Live of the Ascribe ePrescribing system at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

Ascribe’s Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) ensures that prescriptions are accessible at all times by all clinicians, ensuring patients receive correct medication, avoiding accidental harm through manual prescription, which increases patient safety.


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Ascribe ePMA is integrated with the Trust’s other clinical IT systems and handles Mental Health Act Patient Consent recording. This provides clinicians with decision support and means that safer prescribing is carried out and both patient harm and litigation are avoided. Ascribe’s electronic Medicines Management (eMM) and Pharmacy Stock Control Robotic Dispensing are also integrated with the ePMA system, which means the prescription is clinically screened by a pharmacist then supplied automatically without any need for manual transcription, saving staff time and money, whilst providing a quicker, safer service to the patient.

Dr Trevor Broughton, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at NSFT said: “It would’ve taken me at least 3 times as long to write everything by hand. Ascribe’s ePrescribing is a massive time saver – I’m really impressed.”

Full audit and analysis of treatments is available which enables the Trust to cross-reference with their efficacy, to allow best practice to evolve from the emerging evidence provided by the ePMA solution.

Steve Bazire, Consultant Pharmacist (formerly Chief Pharmacist) at NSFT commented on the project: “The Ascribe ePMA system ‘is one’ with the pharmacy system, so once a medicine is ordered/prescribed, it comes straight through to a pharmacist clinical checking screen (or can be done on a ward) and then straight through to the pharmacy system. The level of controls and flexibility is now quite remarkable and also robust. The potential benefits via management of prescribing, lack of transcription and no faxing of prescriptions are going to be enormous.”

Describing the approach and implementation of this new patient-safety focused solution, Lizzie Meadows, eMMA (ePrescribing) Clinical Systems Implementation Manager at NSFT added: “The rigorous development of eMMa together with consistent pragmatic support from Ascribe has ensured that NSFT electronic prescribing launch has been robust, seamless and has had a wholly positive effect on service users’ drug administration.”

Paul Thomson, Electronic Prescribing Lead at Ascribe, said, “The smooth implementation shows the breadth of the Ascribe solution to support the exacting needs of specialists in all care settings. The high-risk environment of detainments under the Mental Health Act now has the safeguard of unique decision support from Ascribe during the treatment processes. Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust joins the growing community of Trusts benefitting in inpatients, outpatients and community clinics from the support of Ascribe’s modern system: from the UK, designed by UK clinicians, for all NHS practice.”

Stephen Critchlow, CEO of Ascribe, commented: “The Go Live at NSFT is a great example of a trust realising the benefits of a full ePMA solution. With the recent funds available for ePrescribing under the ‘Safer Wards, Safer Hospitals’ framework, there has never been a better opportunity for trusts to realise these benefits.”

Ascribe provide ‘closed loop’ full ePrescribing and Medicines Administration across Acute, Mental Health and Community settings which focus on providing safe and effective prescribing and administering to save time, reduce error, and improve patient safety.