eprintid: 10204407 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/44/07 datestamp: 2025-02-07 09:44:20 lastmod: 2025-02-07 09:44:20 status_changed: 2025-02-07 09:44:20 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Dalby, Melanie creators_name: Alazab, Ali creators_name: Chaudhry, Navila Talib title: Qualitative analysis to explore the barriers and facilitators around the implementation of automated dispensing cabinets at a large NHS Trust in England ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C08 divisions: D10 divisions: G11 keywords: Automated dispensing cabinets; Technology; Medication supply note: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract: Background: Automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) as a tool to store and manage medication are becoming more widely used in healthcare settings. Although there is literature surrounding their effectiveness at reducing medication error and time for nursing and pharmacy staff, there is little information on how to implement ADCs on a large scale in a busy working clinical environment. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively determine the enablers and barriers to the implementation of ADCs in a hospital setting. // Methods: Participants were selected through purposeful sampling and invited to attend online focus groups and interviews via Microsoft Teams. These were recorded and transcribed. Two facilitators independently reviewed the transcriptions, coded and developed themes using Nvivo. // Results: There were 18 participants that took part in four focus groups and three interviews. These participants were from the pharmacy department, nursing, estates and the external porter company used for medication and supply. Nine themes and 31 sub-themes were identified from the data. The nine themes were; overall thoughts, strategy of implementation, stakeholder engagement, training, workflow changes, environment, evaluation, challenges and solutions to challenges. // Conclusion: This study has provided new insight into the required elements for implementing a large scale piece of new technology into a hospital setting. The data complemented other studies such as the challenges with staff training and the importance of ongoing optimisation of the ADCs post implementation. Key recommendations for others looking to implement ADCs include utilising videos and written materials for training early on and including nursing staff in the core project implementation team as well introducing mock cabinets for staff to practice on. date: 2025-03 date_type: published publisher: Elsevier BV official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100562 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2358785 doi: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100562 lyricists_name: Chaudhry, Navila lyricists_id: NTCHA11 actors_name: Chaudhry, Navila actors_name: Harris, Jean actors_id: NTCHA11 actors_id: JAHAR68 actors_role: owner actors_role: impersonator full_text_status: public publication: Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy volume: 17 article_number: 100562 issn: 2667-2766 citation: Dalby, Melanie; Alazab, Ali; Chaudhry, Navila Talib; (2025) Qualitative analysis to explore the barriers and facilitators around the implementation of automated dispensing cabinets at a large NHS Trust in England. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy , 17 , Article 100562. 10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100562 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcsop.2025.100562>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204407/1/1-s2.0-S2667276625000034-main.pdf