University Hospitals of Liverpool Group has shared “significant progress” around digital medicines infrastructure at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, highlighting a large-scale EPMA upgrade, the rollout of EPMA in emergency departments, the deployment of automated drug cabinets, and the implementation of the Philips ICCA EPR in critical care.
The digital medicines team’s portfolio includes the EPMA and its web portal, the Careflow pharmacy stock control system, and medicines automation. A visit from the NHS England digital medicines team earlier in 2025 reportedly offered positive feedback, specifically on local data-driven initiatives and the Time Critical Medicines Dashboard.
On the EPMA, the group notes a “major” system upgrade which went live in June 2025, “resolving two known safety risks and addressing performance issues”. Archiving and updates to its legacy system have also been completed to address outstanding audit actions relating to cyber security.
“The Philips ICCA EPR was implemented across Royal and Aintree Critical Care units in June 2025, including fully embedded EPMA,” the group states. “Throughout 2024/5 over 1,600 medications were individually configured and robustly tested, including complex infusions not supported by the inpatient EPMA system.” The procurement process is now underway for a single EPR to replace the multiple clinical systems in use.
The EPR system is also due to be reviewed in 2025/26 to test the use of EPMA modules in generating data to identify trends in controlled drug management across clinical areas, with the group adding: “If this proves unsuccessful a commercial solution may be required.”
Elsewhere, the group updates on its automated drug cabinets, deployed in January 2025, with early benefits reportedly including reduced medicines spend, less nursing time spent locating medicines, and improved stock management. Work is ongoing to review the current medicines management training package for staff, to cover digital training for digiCare EPMA modules.
Wider trend: EPMA
For a recent HTN Now webinar, we explored the impact of EMPA, taking a closer look at its role in increasing efficiency and accuracy in prescribing, in improving patient safety, and some of the challenges with introducing and implementing EPMA systems. Our expert panellists, Fhezan Ashraf, senior pharmacist clinical configuration manager at The Dudley Group; and Hui Yi Lee, advanced clinical pharmacist & EPMA clinical lead at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust shared their own experiences and insights, detailing outcomes, challenges, engagement, design, interoperability and training.
Earlier this year, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust shared progress on the deployment of EPMA, highlighting benefits around increased efficiency and patient safety. The ePMA system has reportedly been successfully deployed at Musgrove Park Hospital and all community hospitals, with the team now focusing on enabling ePMA across all acute inpatient settings and emergency departments at Yeovil Hospital.
North Bristol NHS Trust is celebrating going live with EPMA, with hopes of improving medication safety, streamlining clinical workflows, and enhancing patient care. Jenna Auchraje, lead pharmacist for electronic prescribing, and leading the trust-wide implementation of Careflow Medicines Management, shared news of the “successful” go-live on LinkedIn. In her post, Jenna referred to the go-live as a “huge milestone” in the trust’s digital transformation journey, and the beginning of months of work to embed the system, optimise workflows, and continue to innovate.
