Use of technology to improve medication safety in residential childcare

To increase the safety and improve the health outcomes of the children and young people in our care, an electronic medication administration (eMAR) system was implemented. We explore our experience, focussing on the challenges and improvements made by implementing this type of system. Despite initial hesitance to change, the system has improved how we manage medication within this service. It has reduced our errors, and reduced resources for ordering and auditing of medication, as well as providing young people with more responsibility for their own medication and overall health. Despite challenges in implementation, there are considerable benefits to using this type of system within residential childcare. The resultant reduction in errors provides an indication that there is an improvement in overall health outcomes for the young people in our care.