The Pharmacy team at Wrexham Maelor Hospital have won a health and care digital innovation award for a recent pilot project.

The team trialled the use of software called Information Reporting Intelligence System (IRIS) which when working with other healthcare systems, allows pharmacists to generate daily reports to identify and locate Acute Kidney Injury patients for a timelier pharmacist review, within overstretched busy departments.

During the 19-day pilot, 50 patients were reviewed by the Wrexham Maelor Emergency Department Pharmacist with 74% of patients requiring Pharmacist intervention to reduce risk of Acute Kidney Injury medication related harm.

The Pharmacy team won the Digital Innovation Award at the MediWales annual awards, which recognises and showcases the achievements in the life science sector in Wales.

Sheila Doyle, Medical Lead Pharmacist, said: “We are delighted to have won this award. Although this was a small project, it shows the big impact pharmacists can have improving patient care. By embracing digital advances in combination with pharmacists’ unique skillset, we hope to share this work not just across Betsi but throughout Wales too and develop new pathways to champion patient safety.”

The pilot project has had a significant impact on patient safety benefits and how easily they access medication.

Emily Rose, Pharmacist at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, said: “Being able to use technology in practice has helped us as Pharmacists to improve the quality and efficiency of care patients receive in the Emergency Department, and has helped to reduce workload and pressures for other members of the medical team.”

The project was conducted last winter when Wrexham Maelor Emergency Department was suffering from significant pressures, finding there is a clear potential for hundreds of patients to benefit from use of this digital technology in Emergency Departments and can help overstretched departments.