New intelligent bedside cabinet technology 'helped me be a mum again' by assisting with son's medication

An Aberdeenshire woman has said a trial of new technology to assist patients taking medications at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has “helped her to be a mum again”.

Kirsty Mair’s son, Jacob, has a number of medical conditions, including Arnold Chiari malformation. The pair have spent the last 16 months in hospital.

NHS Grampian has been testing new intelligent bedside cabinets – which help patients and their guardians take their own medication at the right time, while still remaining under the supervision of medical staff.

Kirsty has been Jacob’s full time carer for his entire life.

She said: “When you’re at home you get to do all the medication side of things. But when you come into hospital, you hand that over to the staff.

“Jacob has his medication at set times usually, but when you come into hospital you don’t often get medication at that set time – it depends on how busy the nurses are.

“I just feel bad when you have to remind them or chase them for medication.

“When the medication cabinets came out a few months ago it was a much easier for myself because I felt like I was back being responsible for working with my son.

“A lot of people think that when your child comes into hospital you don’t feel that involved and it’s the nurses that do it all.

“Now I’ve been taught how to use the cabinet I don’t need to worry about relying on the staff.”

The intelligent bedside cabinets have been developed by technology company Kinetic-ID, which partnered with NHS Grampian to road-test the new products.

The cabinets remind patients when to take their own medication, and keep track of when medication has been taken.

There’s hope that in time, that data can insert itself into patient charts – to allow doctors and nurses to see exactly which drugs a patient has taken whilst in hospital.

Lindsay Cameron, medication safety advisor for NHS Grampian, said: “It allows the patient to continue to manage their condition which they may be used to doing while they’re at home.

“It empowers them a bit to continue to do that.”

“This can help those already on medicines to continue to self-administer while they are admitted to hospital and others getting used to new medications to feel better prepared when it’s time to go home.”

The medical ward at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital has provided the first testing site in the UK for the new cabinets – and NHS Grampian has suggested a number of tweaks to make the technology perfect.

Wayne Miller, solutions consultant for Kinetic-ID, said: “Without NHS Grampian we wouldn’t be where we are now.

“They’ve helped us develop this into a fit for purpose bit of kit.

“They’ve suggested changes to the screen size, how it dispenses medication, how easy it is to set up – lots of changes.

“This has got to be a useful tool for the teams. It can’t just be a manual safe that sits there and opens and closes – it’s got to be useful.”