Robots help dispense 1.7m medicines since 2014 in UAE

Robots have helped dispense over 1.7 million prescription medicines in the Capital since 2014, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) has revealed. Over 523,000 patients have benefitted from the smart pharmacy service's accuracy.

Dr Maha Al Ghufli, corporate pharmacy manager at the Seha, said: "The smart pharmacy service has succeeded in improving the accuracy of prescriptions, eliminating over-prescription and reducing waiting times.

"We have over 880 pharmacists, 82 of whom are Emirati, and they have all expressed excitement over the efficiency of the system."

Once the details are entered, a robot picks the medicine, prints the label containing the patient's information and delivers it to the pharmacist's window in eight to 10 seconds. "The robot also carries out the technical tasks of dispensing the prescriptions," said Dr Al Ghufli.

The Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Al Rahba Hospital, Tawam Hospital, Mohamed bin Zayed Healthcare Centre, Bani Yas Health Centre and Oud Al Touba Diagnostic and Screening are among the facilities that have implemented the system. Some hospital pharmacies such as those in Ghayathi Hospital, Madinat Zayed in Al Dhafra and Corniche Hospital have also upgraded their systems. "We want to implement this programme in all our facilities from hospitals to health centres due to the positive results it has yielded in terms of speed and accuracy."

The pharmacy at Seha's outpatient clinic in Mohamed bin Zayed Healthcare Centre was the first to pilot the system.

Madinat Zayed and Ghayathi hospitals have automatic dispensing cabinets which have been operational in intensive care departments under the supervision of the pharmacists. These automated dispensing cabinets have resulted in eradicating errors, quicker delivery, a 50 per cent reduction in single use plastics and the increased storage safety of inpatient medicines, which hold 70 per cent of prescriptions.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com