Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has launched a free-standing 24-hour prescription collection machine to further improve its services for outpatients.

Royal Bolton Hospital is the first in the area to install the, Made in Britain certified, MedPoint SOLO, the UK’s only free-standing, temperature-controlled, prescription collection machine.

The hospital has utilised the Unified Tech Fund, an NHS fund dedicated to digital transformation, to secure their MedPoint.

The MedPoint is located outside of the hospital for ease of access, alongside a dedicated parking bay which is free for up to 15 minutes.

By providing a convenient way of obtaining medicines and removing barriers to change, the machine will enable the hospital to actively work towards the NHS England target of 25% of patients to be seen via virtual outpatient clinics.

Where a patient has an outpatient appointment virtually, the machine will remove the need for them to then enter the pharmacy and queue to collect a prescription, keeping the interaction digital and streamlined.

The safe, secure, and fast way of collecting medication will not replace the face-to-face pharmacy service within the hospital. It will provide an additional outlet for patients to conveniently access their medication at a time that suits them.

MedPoint managing director, Gill Collins, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Royal Bolton Hospital to the MedPoint family. We really enjoyed attending the launch event and it’s great that the hospital is embracing automation to create convenience for patients.

“Our team are dedicated to helping ease the strain on the NHS by introducing automation to create more efficient services. We’re proud to offer British engineered solutions with end-to-end training and support.”

Steven Simpson, Chief Pharmacist at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust added: “When we saw this technology at another hospital, we knew this was a system that could help us improve our services to patients.

“Not only does it reduce the time taken for someone to come into the hospital and collect, avoiding queues at peak times, but they can also come at any time of day or night, 365 days a year.

“This is one in a series of developments to improve our services to patients, and we’re really looking forward to it being actively used by our patients on a daily basis.”

Once patients register, they will get an instant notification via text when their prescription is ready, along with a unique pin which can be shared with others to collect on their behalf if needed.

The MedPoint unit is now operational and patients at Royal Bolton Hospital can sign up now.