Powys Teaching Health Board goes live with Better ePMA

Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) has gone live an electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) system from Better Meds.

The implementation at Bronllys Hospital marks the start of a phased rollout programme across Powys’ community hospitals and inpatient services, and forms part of the Digital Medicines programme led by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW), a wider national drive to modernise medicines management across NHS Wales.

Alongside the Better Meds rollout, Powys has become the first health board in Wales to implement both read and write functionality with the Shared Medicines Record (SMR), a national record containing medicines, allergy and intolerance information for patients across Wales.

Michelle Sweet, ward manager at PTHB, said: “The introduction of ePMA has been a big change for the team, and it’s taken a bit of getting used to, particularly in the first few days. Any shift away from something familiar is always going to take some adjustment, but overall, it has settled in well.

“One of the biggest differences is simply not having to go looking for drug charts anymore. Everything is there when you need it; it’s clear and readable, and that has made a noticeable difference to how smoothly things run.

“The system is user-friendly, and there’s definitely a learning curve, but it’s not as daunting as some initially thought it might be. You can see confidence building day by day as staff get more familiar with it.”

The integration allows clinicians to access a patient’s current medicines, allergy and intolerance information on admission and update the record throughout treatment and at discharge from within the same system.

The aim is to create a single, accurate medicines record that follows patients across care settings, supporting safer prescribing and reducing the risk of medication errors.

The first phase of the programme will focus on inpatient wards throughout 2026, with future deployments planned for outpatient services, theatres and maternity care.

Stefan Siekierski, delivery director at Better, said: “We’re proud to support Powys Teaching Health Board on this important stage of its digital transformation journey.

“Delivering ePMA across a health board as geographically dispersed and operationally unique as Powys is a significant achievement and reflects the strength of collaboration between Powys, Better, and partners across NHS Wales.

“This go-live not only marks our second live deployment in Wales, but also another step forward in the wider national ambition to modernise medicines management through connected digital systems.”

PTHB selected Better as its technology partner to deliver an ePMA system in May 2025. It is the second health board in Wales to roll out the system from Better after Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which went live at Wrexham Maelor Hospital in December 2025.