May 26, 2025Northern Health is adopting electronic tracking of controlled medication management that is both practical and reliable, to enhance patient medication safety and operational efficiency.
HS8 is a digital platform to record and monitor movement of controlled medicines. Traditionally, this process relies on paper logbooks which are prone to errors, illegible handwriting, and time-consuming reconciliation.
David Harris, Deputy Director of Pharmacy, said HS8 will mitigate risks associated with medication errors.
“It will reduce administrative burden for our clinical staff, freeing up time to focus on direct patient care,” he said.
Real-time compliance alerts for stock adjustments and discrepancies will also assist in timely rectification of irregularities or diversion. Furthermore, its user-friendly interface facilitates efficient documentation and visibility of controlled drugs within the hospital, making dispensing and distribution much more efficient.
Northern Health’s transition to electronic controlled medication registers began with a successful pilot program across Pharmacy in February 2025. This initial implementation served as a critical testing ground, allowing staff to familiarise themselves with the system, provide feedback, and identify initial challenges.
This successful expansion was supported by the efforts of pharmacy site leads Elise Simionato, Angelo Tonietto and Paula Parkins, and Pharmacy Education team Jeff Khoshaba and Ginny Dhillon.
The teams are now in the planning phase to extend HS8 beyond our pharmacies. A working group comprised of senior nursing staff and pharmacists, including Deanne Rowland, Ligi Jomy, Rashminder Singh, Jeena Chhetri, Lisa Cox, Uyen Hua and David Harris have convened to scale the platform across all Northern Health clinical areas.
This collaborative effort is ensuring that the ward implementation is tailored to the unique workflows and needs of nursing staff, while maintaining established governance and legislative standards for S8 and S4D medicine handling and management.
The ward pilot program is set to go live July 2025 across two wards – Northern Hospital Epping Ward 16 and Broadmeadows Unit 1.
Featured image L-R: David Harris, Elise Simionato and Uyen Hua.
