4 July 2006

A new electronic materials management (EMM) system will be employed in Northern Ireland's hospitals to improve efficiency and benefit patients.

The system, which will cost £3.6 million to implement, will reduce the amount of time frontline health service staff take to manage stock.

EMM's usability allows high-density storage, bar coding and electronic scanning to provide automatic ordering, which is linked directly to the regional supplies warehouse system, accessed by all trusts.

Prior to the system, staff in wards and other hospital departments needed to manually check stock, which could lead to inefficient stock rotation, goods going out of date and overstocking.

Paul Goggins, health minister for the Northern Ireland Executive, said: "New technologies have an important role to play in our health service.

"They can bring tremendous benefits to patients and staff, ensuring a better level of care and helping health service staff carry out their duties more effectively."

Health services throughout the UK are working to update their technological systems, ranging from digital accessibility of service for patients to supply nurse websites.

© Adfero Ltd

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