Portsmouth Case Study

A look into our partnership with Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, who deliver specialist care to patients across multiple therapy areas.

PHP’s Challenge

Prior to adopting E-Sign technology, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust faced several challenges with their prescription process:

• Extended processing times: On average, there was a delay of 11.18 days between a prescription being signed and its arrival at PHP.

• Manual paper-based system: Reliance on physical documents led to administrative bottlenecks, increased the risk of errors and consumed significant staff time.

• Environmental concerns: The paper-intensive process contributed to a larger carbon footprint – conflicting with the organisation's sustainability goals.

These issues not only affected operational efficiency but also had the potential to impact patient care due to delays in medication dispensing.

PHP's Solution

In response to these challenges, PHP introduced an E-Sign solution in December 2024.
The implementation followed a phased approach:

Initial rollout: The project commenced with the Gastroenterology department, allowing the team to assess the system's functionality and address any initial concerns. Sophie Lidstone, from Portsmouth Hospitals, played a key role during this phase—supporting the coordination and process refinement needed for a smooth transition to digital workflows. Additionally, Raghu Mamullapally's efforts in developing power applications significantly enhanced the digital processes at Portsmouth Hospitals, thereby benefiting the entire project.

Expansion phase: By January 2025, the E-Sign system was extended to include Dermatology and Rheumatology departments – increasing the volume of electronic prescriptions.

The E-Sign technology enabled prescribers to digitally sign and transmit prescriptions directly to PHP – eliminating the need for physical document handling.

This seamless integration ensured that prescriptions were received immediately upon signing – reducing delays and potential errors associated with manual processing.

The Results

Dramatic reduction in processing time: By February, the average time from prescription signing to receipt at PHP decreased from 11.18 days to just 1.9 days.

Enhanced efficiency: The proportion of prescriptions received within 1 working day increased from approximately 3.5% to 59% – streamlining the medication dispensing process.

Environmental benefits: Monthly carbon savings improved by 33% – rising from 7.2 kg to 9.7 kg – reflecting the environmental advantages of reducing paper usage.

These outcomes align with findings from broader studies. For instance, research has shown that e-prescribing reduces prescribing errors, increases efficiency and helps to save on healthcare costs.

Commenting on the successful results, the team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said:

We worked in partnership with PHP as the homecare provider for one of our largest therapy areas, and we have had a positive experience collaborating to facilitate onboarding patients.

Effective and timely communication between PHP, the clinical teams, and pharmacy supported this. PHP was very responsive to queries from LTHT – which supported our joint aim of achieving a successful outcome.”

Why Personal Homecare Pharmacy?

PHP is committed to leveraging innovative, technology-driven solutions – enhancing patient care and operational efficiency. Our proactive approach ensures that healthcare providers can deliver timely and accurate services to their patients.

The successful implementation of E-Sign technology with the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust exemplifies our dedication to excellence, sustainability and continuous improvement in the healthcare sector.