Swindon hospital pharmacy staff install robotic aids

Pharmacy staff at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital are to work alongside two robotic devices which are designed to make it easier to deliver prescriptions.

The robots, named Wall-E and Eve, have been implemented as part of a 350,000 pound initiative to improve pharmacy services and will aid the 3,300 staff members employed by the facility.

They utilise an infra-red scanning system to identify and locate specific drugs from shelves, which are then transported back to staff to deliver to patients.

It is thought that use of the robots will allow medicine to be collected far faster than a human could manage, as well as reducing the likelihood of prescription errors.

Sarah Davis, pharmacy operations manager for the hospital, said: “The idea behind installing Wall-E and Eve is to speed up prescription discharge times and free up time for pharmacy staff to go onto wards and support direct patient care where they are needed.”

Last week, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was presented with a national award in recognition of its commitment to health and safety in the workplace.