Ashington-based firm, Mistura Informatics, providing expertise to help NHS
Mistura Informatics has opened access to a time-saving resource to enable the NHS to work more quickly and accurately with COVID-19 sufferers throughout the UK.
By Helen Bowman
Dawn Price is Managing Director of Ashington-based Mistura Informatics. We caught up with her to find out more about the resource and how it’s helping the NHS in the fight against the virus.
Tell us more about the resource you’re offering to the NHS?
The resource is called MaPPs which stands for Medicines: A Patient Profile Summary and provides the latest medicine information to the NHS for free to reduce pressure and free up critical hours for staff on the frontline during this time of national crisis. It also means that staff who have been redeployed to new roles, and are not necessarily aware of all aspects of drug safety, will have the most up-to-date drug information at their fingertips to share with patients on discharge.
We developed the resource to provide a simplified 300-word patient information summary on over 6,000 medicines available in the UK – it helps patients take their medication more effectively by providing easy to understand explanations about their medicine, how to take it and any warnings or possible adverse side effects to look out for.
I developed the resource alongside my colleague at Mistura Informatics, and fellow former NHS pharmacist, Stephen Bazire MBE.
How has the resource been taken up since you offered it for free?
MaPPs is currently installed in over 100 organisations including hospital trusts, pharmacies and Clinical Commissioning Groups, with a further 14 brought on board since the service was made available free-of-charge.
Barts Healthcare, the organisation which is managing the services at the new NHS Nightingale Hospital in London, has enquired about using the software to improve patients’ medicines safety, which will speed up the hospital discharge services without compromising on patient safety.
What are your hopes for the resource during the Coronavirus crisis?
That MaPPs will assist the important work of the NHS during this time of national crisis. Many of the hospital’s staff will be redeployed from other areas of the NHS and will find themselves in an unfamiliar environment. Having the latest medicines information at their fingertips will make their jobs quicker and easier, whilst ensuring that patient safety is still paramount.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to ramp up pressure on the NHS, frontline staff are becoming increasingly time-poor. MaPPs reduce the time spent explaining medicines to patients, making the hospital discharge service faster and more efficient.
Safeguarding patients’ wellbeing is key during this crisis and our software will give people the tools to take their medication safely and effectively whilst they are in social isolation with a clear written record.
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