WALTHAM, Mass. — Wolters Kluwer Health has implemented its Medi-Span medication decision support system at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, marking the product’s first deployment within the U.K.’s National Health Service.
The Christie, based in Manchester, is Europe’s largest single-site cancer center and treats more than 60,000 patients a year. The specialist oncology center serves Greater Manchester and Cheshire and also receives national referrals from across the U.K.
Medi-Span is designed to help clinicians identify potential medication risks by screening patient-specific information against medical and pharmaceutical literature. At The Christie, the system will provide allergy and medicine-related screening across inpatient wards, offering personalized alerts intended to support prescribing decisions.
“The Christie is recognized globally for its excellence and commitment to delivering exceptional patient care,” said Israel Armstrong, Vice President for Medi-Span International at Wolters Kluwer Health. “We’re proud that our first Medi-Span implementation in the NHS should be with such a prestigious institution. We look forward to more collaborations that help streamline processes further and help clinical teams make the most highly informed decisions.”
The system has been embedded into Better Meds, an electronic prescribing and medicines administration platform, and integrated with The Christie’s electronic patient record system.
Hani Hanna, Specialist Clinical Pharmacist – ePrescribing, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust said, “The integration of Medi-Span into the Better Meds ePMA solution marks a significant step forward in empowering our clinical teams to make more informed prescribing decisions. By embedding allergy and medicine-related information directly into the patient record, clinicians gain clear, actionable insights at the point of care. The hands-on support provided by the Medi-Span team throughout implementation, especially during go-live, was instrumental in ensuring a seamless transition and immediate clinical impact.”
Wolters Kluwer said Medi-Span can be integrated into electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems through clinical APIs. The company said the tool can help flag potential adverse drug effects and contraindications while providing alerts to health care professionals at the point of care.
“The Better Meds implementation was a strong collaborative journey with great engagement along the way,” said Stefan Siekierski, Delivery Manager for Better Meds at UK & Ireland at Better. “What stood out for me on the go-live day was how well organized and prepared the team was and the level of involvement across different teams and at all levels. There was a real sense of pulling together to support a major change of working to enhance patient care. It was wonderful to see all the hard work of The Christie implementation.”
