A NEW robot has been introduced to dispense medicine to inpatients at Torbay and South Devon NHS Trust.

Spencer the dispenser, as it has been named by colleagues, now provides speedy, automated pharmacy dispensing.

It replaces the trust’s previous system, which was in operation for more than 18 years and dispensed more than 3.4 million packs of medicines during that time.

The new robot will enhance the speed, accuracy and reliability of medicines dispensing and has been configured to integrate with the trust’s new electronic patient record (EPR), due to go live in April.

The upgrade will support safer workflows and more efficient preparation and supply of medicines across the trust’s acute and community services.

It also marks the next step in the trust’s ‘digital transformation’.

Paul Foster, Chief Pharmacist, said: ‘The installation of Spencer marks a real step forward for our pharmacy service.

'Our team worked incredibly hard during the transition period — manually processing every prescription — to keep patients safe and ensure discharges could continue smoothly.

'Having Spencer now in place gives us speed, accuracy and reliability, and crucially, puts us in a strong position ahead of our EPR launch in April.’

Spencer was supplied by Becton Dickinson UK Ltd.

Sven Thoresen, for Becton Dickinson UK Ltd, added: ‘We’re delighted to partner with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to provide their new In-Patient robot.

‘Automated dispensing technology provides significant workflow, efficiency and safety benefits, and we’re proud to support the trust and the Pharmacy Team as it modernises its pharmacy infrastructure.’

Kate Lissett, Chief Medical Officer, said: ‘This new robot provides a much‑needed improvement to our medicines dispensing arrangements.

‘I want to thank our pharmacy and capital development teams for the way they managed the installation and maintained safe patient care throughout, particularly over the Christmas and New Year period.

‘Their professionalism ensured continuity for patients while this essential upgrade was completed.’

Spencer is now fully operational and supporting the inpatient pharmacy service.