APHS was delighted to be named the 2007 Australian Business Award winner for Product excellence “The Sachet System” our innovative medication delivery system for residents of aged care facilities.

The Sachet System is an automated sachet system which packs, delivers, stores and regulates oral medications for aged care facility residents.

Accepting the Australian Business Award, APHS Managing Partner, Stuart Giles, said The Sachet System had revolutionised the dispensing of medicines to aged care facilities.

“It is safe, effective and very efficient and those qualities are vitally important for aged care facility staff and residents,” said Mr Giles.

At a dedicated facility in Brisbane, The Sachet System uses specialised IT software to enter prescriptions from general practitioners into a dispensing system. This automatically packages each resident’s weekly medications into transparent sachets that have specific information about the patient and dosages on the back.

The sachets are produced in strips for each resident and are subject to a rigorous quality assurance process to ensure that they contain the right drugs and specify the right doses before they are delivered.

“The Sachet System delivers a clear safety advantage over manual packing systems,” Mr Giles said. “It is widely endorsed by aged care staff and is rapidly being accepted as leading practice in health care.”

Using technology first introduced in 2003, The Sachet System is now used by more than 10,000 aged care residents in facilities in south east Queensland and Western Australia.