A region wide pilot project measuring the impact of automated pill dispensers on reducing levels of hospital readmissions, and helping patients to take medication properly, has succeeded in freeing up beds and saving thousands of pounds.
So far, 283 people with conditions ranging from dementia and visual impairments, to mental health issues and Parkinsons, were given the dispensers as part of the trial.
The group included 53 people who, prior to joining the pilot, had been admitted to hospital after failing to take their medication properly. None have been readmitted since using the pill dispenser. This has resulted in:
· Freeing up 371 bed days (1)
· Saving the NHS £94,605 against the initial investment in pill dispensers of £10.865
· Savings per patient NHS and social care cost of £1,810. (2)
Research shows the costs of admissions caused by patients not taking prescribed medicines was estimated to be between £36m and £197m in 2006-07. (3)
John Barber, an 84-year-old from Dudley with dementia, described the dispenser as “dead easy” in a short film about the project produced in September 2010. John, whose daily medication includes tablets for his diabetes and his heart, explains: “The bell rings, the red light shines, you lift it up and turn it forwards and it is already pre-set. Tablets in the mouth - gone!”
Head of Adult Social Care at Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands, Matt Bowsher, said: “The results of the trial are really encouraging. Failure to take medication properly puts enormous strain on the NHS and local authority budgets, not to mention ruining people’s quality of life and ability to live independently.”
The pilot began in July 2009 and ends on 31 March 2012. Pilot areas are Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin, Wolverhampton, and Worcestershire.
(1) Bed-day: a hospital patient is confined to bed for a day, staying overnight.
(2) Savings calculated based on the unit costs of health and social care with savings from interventions no longer required (e.g. domiciliary care calls or admission to an acute ward). The £10,865 spent on the 53 people includes a monthly £20 dispensing fee plus £85 per device. The £1,810 average saving breaks down into £753 saved from social care and £1,057 saved from NHS spend. The £205 total per patient includes £120 a month dispensing fees for six months and £85 for the device.
(3) Source: "Automatic Medication Dispensers: A review of evidence & current practice." Author Margaret McArthur- University of Birmingham 9th September 2008.
More
