The Future of Pharmacy Management in Acute Care: Connected Care
Table of Contents Help Others Discover – Click to Share! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Table of Contents 45 of 184 NHS trusts reported fully electronic prescribing 49 of 156 trusts that identified their prescribing system reported using two or more programmes Only 45 of 184 NHS trusts reported fully electronic prescribing, while 49 of 156 trusts that identified their prescribing system reported using two or more programmes. These figures highlight the challenges of mixed digital and paper-based processes, multiple systems and medication information that may not transfer reliably between care settings. Hospitals need connected pharmacy systems, accessible medication information and patient portals that support continuity beyond the hospital. Integration with the NHS App, where approved and appropriate, is also becoming increasingly relevant to the future of digital medicines management. Cellma and the NHS 10 Year Health Plan: Building Connected Care Published on 3 July 2025, the NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out three shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. Its commitments include a My Medicines feature in the NHS App by 2028 and a Single Patient Record. Cellma supports this direction through a connected healthcare ecosystem that brings clinical and operational information together. For pharmacy management in acute care, this means looking beyond the prescription itself to the wider patient record, clinical workflows, care coordination and discharge information. With appropriate configuration and integrations, Cellma can form part of a digital environment designed to support continuity across hospital and community services. How Cellma Supports Pharmacy Management in Acute Care Medication management spans the entire acute care journey. A patient may arrive in A&E with existing prescriptions, receive changes to treatment on a ward and leave hospital with a revised medication plan. At every stage, clinicians need relevant information to be available and communicated appropriately. Cellma connects key clinical and operational capabilities within one healthcare ecosystem, supporting the information flow around these processes. 1 Connected Patient Records and Clinical Information Clinicians need access to relevant patient history, clinical documentation, allergies and other information when assessing treatment. When information is spread across multiple systems, teams may need to search different records or manually reconcile details. Cellma supports access to clinical information within the patient record, helping teams work with a more connected view of the patient’s care. The information available depends on the deployed modules, connected systems and local configuration. For pharmacy management in acute care, this connected clinical context is important when reviewing medication-related information and coordinating treatment. 2 Prescribing-Related Workflows and Clinical Alerts Electronic prescribing is an important part of digital medication management, but implementation alone does not guarantee safe practice. Workflows must reflect clinical requirements, and relevant alerts and patient information must be configured appropriately. Cellma provides a wider platform for connecting clinical records, information and workflows. Depending on the modules and integrations deployed, it can support medication-related processes within the organisation’s clinical environment. The focus should be on ensuring that prescribing-related workflows are assessed for clinical safety, configured for local practice and supported by appropriate governance. Dedicated ePMA functionality and closed-loop medication administration should be evaluated against the specific deployment requirements. 3 Connected Discharge and Continuity of Care Discharge is a critical point in the medication journey. Changes made during an admission need to be documented and communicated to the appropriate professionals and services. Cellma supports discharge-related workflows and clinical information management within the wider care pathway. Where the necessary integrations are available, relevant information can be exchanged with connected systems to support continuity between hospital and community care. This is particularly important when medication changes, follow-up arrangements and ongoing treatment need to be communicated beyond the acute setting. 4 Reporting and Operational Visibility Healthcare organisations need visibility into activity, processes and potential areas of concern. Cellma’s reporting and analytics capabilities can support the review of relevant clinical and operational information. For pharmacy management teams, the wider reporting environment can contribute to organisational oversight when appropriate data is captured and available. Reporting requirements should be defined around local medication safety processes, audit needs and governance arrangements. Cellma Interoperability: Connecting the NHS Digital Environment Cellma’s value extends beyond the information held within a single application. Healthcare organisations also need to consider how clinical data moves between EHRs, pharmacy systems, primary care and patient-facing services. Cellma supports integration with relevant healthcare systems and standards, subject to deployment scope, interface availability and configuration. Standard or service Role in the connected healthcare environment NHS App and patient portals Supports patient-facing access to relevant information where approved integrations are available. NHS Spine and Personal Demographics Service (PDS) Supports identity and demographic information exchange through applicable interfaces. Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Supports electronic prescription processes where the required integration is implemented. Summary Care Record (SCR) Supports access to relevant summary information through approved connections. GP Connect Enables information exchange with participating GP systems through supported interfaces. Electronic Referral Service (e-RS) Supports referral processes through applicable integrations. MESH, REST and Open APIs Support information exchange between connected systems. FHIR UK Core and Care Connect Provide frameworks for structuring and exchanging healthcare data. SNOMED CT, dm+d and ODS Support clinical terminology, medicines data and organisation identification. CIS2 Supports NHS identity and access-management processes where integrated. LOINC and DICOM/PACS Support relevant observations, investigations and imaging-related data exchange where required. These standards serve different purposes, and not every integration is necessary for every implementation. Each organisation should determine which interfaces are required for its clinical workflows, information governance and technical architecture. For pharmacy management in acute care, the priority is to establish reliable, appropriately governed information exchange. Connecting systems should reduce reliance on repeated manual entry where feasible, while maintaining suitable checks, access controls and clinical oversight. Cellma Patient Portals and NHS App Integration Patient access is becoming an increasingly important part of the NHS digital strategy. The planned My Medicines feature in the NHS App reinforces the direction towards more accessible digital health information. Cellma’s patient portal capabilities can form part of this connected approach by supporting