Communication Without Compromise: How eMAR Plus Keeps Everyone in the Loop
In any care setting, communication isn’t a luxury, it’s the foundation of safe, effective care. Whether it’s a nurse handing over at the end of a long shift, a pharmacist updating a prescription, or a manager reviewing a medication incident, one missed message can make the difference between safety and risk.
The reality is that medication errors are rarely the result of carelessness. More often, they stem from miscommunication, illegible handwriting, missed handovers, outdated medication lists, or confusion between pharmacy and care home teams. According to a BMJ report, an estimated 237 million medication errors occur in England every year, costing the NHS over £98 million annually. Most are preventable, but they happen because information doesn’t flow fast enough to the people who need it most.
That’s where eMAR Plus, the UK’s leading medication management software, is changing the story. By providing real-time updates between nurses, managers, and pharmacy teams, eMAR Plus helps care homes maintain clear, consistent communication, without adding to staff workload.
The Hidden Cost of Poor Communication in Medication Management
Every care professional knows the pressure of medication rounds. Between resident needs, shift changes, and last-minute order updates, there are countless points where details can be missed or misheard.
Under NICE SC1: Managing Medicines in Care Homes, care providers are required to maintain accurate, up-to-date medication records and ensure that information about medicines is shared promptly with all relevant professionals. In practice, however, paper-based systems make this difficult to achieve.
A paper MAR chart is only as current as the last person who wrote on it. If a GP alters a dosage, the pharmacist updates a prescription, or a nurse records a late administration, those changes may not reach everyone immediately. When a new carer arrives on shift, they might be working from yesterday’s information. The result? Confusion, duplication, or omission.
This is why effective medication management in nursing depends so heavily on communication. It’s not just about following the “five rights”, the right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, and right time it’s about ensuring every professional involved in care has the same, accurate, real-time data.
How eMAR Plus Strengthens Communication Across Care Teams
At its core, eMAR Plus is an intelligent electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR system) that replaces manual paper charts with a secure, digital alternative. But more importantly, it acts as a communication bridge between everyone responsible for medication administration from nurses on the floor to care home managers and pharmacy partners.
Here’s how eMAR Plus keeps everyone in the loop:
1. Real-Time Updates for Nurses
Nursing teams are often the final checkpoint before a resident receives medication. With eMAR Plus, nurses can record every administration directly on a tablet or computer at the point of care.
Each entry, including dosage, time, and any notes (such as a refused or delayed dose) is instantly visible to other authorised users. That means if one nurse records a late dose, the next shift immediately sees that update. No chasing paperwork, no missed handovers, no uncertainty.
Siobhan Brammeld, Residential Manager, Massereene Manor, Hutchinson Care Homes, described it perfectly:
“Communication in Broomhill has improved as well. Any changes to a resident’s medication are instantly updated in the system, ensuring that all staff are up to date. This eliminates the potential for miscommunication and guarantees a smooth handover between shifts.”
2. Instant Oversight for Managers
For care home managers and compliance officers, visibility is key. eMAR Plus allows managers to view live medication data from across their service. Each administration is time-stamped and logged under a staff member’s unique ID, creating a secure, auditable record.
This level of transparency helps homes meet the Care Quality Commission (CQC) requirements under Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment). Managers can easily access digital audit trails, check for missed doses, and generate reports within minutes, all without combing through paper charts.
As Graeme Beatty, Housing with Care Manager at Radius Housing put it:
“Moving away from paper and onto the eMAR system has been much more secure for staff and residents and provides better accountability for everyone.”
3. Seamless Coordination with Pharmacies
eMAR Plus integrates directly with PillPacPlus, a trusted UK pharmacy partner. This means that any change to a prescription, whether it’s a dosage adjustment, new medication, or discontinuation, appears automatically in the care home’s eMAR record.
No more phone calls to confirm updates or waiting for printed MAR sheets. The medication administration software synchronises instantly, ensuring both care home and pharmacy teams are always aligned.
Liz Blair, Senior Care Home Manager at Viewpark (Abercorn Care Ltd), highlighted this partnership:
“The eMAR system has streamlined our medication management, ensuring our residents receive their medications accurately and on time. The team at PillPacPlus are outstanding, always responsive and willing to provide guidance whenever needed.”
Improving the Nursing Care Plan for Medication Management
When communication improves, so does the overall nursing care plan for medication management. A modern care plan isn’t just a document, it’s a living process that requires coordination between nurses, pharmacists, and clinical managers.
With eMAR Plus, care staff can:
Access current prescriptions and administration records in seconds.
Review a resident’s full recent medication history before each round.
Document observations or side effects immediately in the system.
Share updates securely with managers and pharmacies in real time.
This digital connectivity helps ensure continuity of care, particularly during staff changes or multidisciplinary reviews. It also supports regulatory expectations for medication administration policy, where records must demonstrate accountability and traceability.
Medication Administration Policy: Supporting Compliance and Accountability
Every care home must have a robust medication administration policy, a document that sets out who can administer medicines, how doses are recorded, and what to do when errors or refusals occur. But policy alone isn’t enough; it must be supported by tools that make compliance possible.
That’s where eMAR Plus excels. The system reinforces policy standards automatically through:
Prompted safety checks: Ensuring staff verify the correct resident, medication, and time before each administration.
Automatic reminders and alerts: Flagging missed or overdue doses.
Secure digital signatures: Replacing handwritten notes with verifiable electronic records.
Audit-ready reporting: Allowing managers to demonstrate adherence to policy during inspections.
In this way, eMAR Plus doesn’t just help homes write a good policy, it helps them live it.
Medication Management Software That Puts People First
The best technology is the kind that simplifies, not complicates. eMAR Plus is purpose-built for the care sector, designed with nurses and carers in mind.
It’s as intuitive as using a smartphone, with clear layouts and colour-coded alerts. Even agency or new staff can get up to speed quickly, thanks to personalised training and live support.
As Helen Craig, Scheme Manager at Loughview Fold, Radius Housing shared:
“Training was absolutely fantastic. The team took us through everything step by step and tailored the training to the needs of our residents and staff. We found the training to be entirely invaluable.”
This approach to onboarding and support ensures that medication management in nursing becomes more confident, consistent, and compliant across every team.
Building a Culture of Transparency and Trust
Transparency is one of the most powerful outcomes of adopting an eMAR system. Every medication event is recorded in real time, with no ambiguity about what was done, when, or by whom.
This builds trust across every level of the organisation:
Between nurses: Handovers are smoother because everyone sees the same live record.
Between managers and staff: Accountability is clear and fair.
Between care homes and pharmacies: Both parties can verify data instantly.
Between providers and inspectors: Reports are clear, consistent, and audit-ready.
This level of openness isn’t just about efficiency; it strengthens professional relationships and helps care homes meet the expectations set by NICE and CQC for safe medication management.
Reducing Errors, Improving Outcomes
Independent studies have shown that digital MAR systems significantly reduce medication errors. At Antrim Care Home, for example, the introduction of eMAR Plus cut medication administration time by over 50%, while also improving accuracy and record-keeping.
When staff spend less time on paperwork and more time with residents, quality of care naturally improves. Errors are caught before they happen, communication flows smoothly, and medication safety becomes a shared responsibility rather than an individual burden.
Why Communication Matters Now More Than Ever
The care landscape in 2025 is changing fast. Digital recordkeeping is no longer optional, it’s becoming the standard of good practice across the UK. The Care Quality Commission has made it clear that electronic medication administration systems are acceptable (and often preferable) when they meet data protection and safety standards.
For care homes, this isn’t just a technology upgrade, it’s a culture shift. By adopting medication administration software like eMAR Plus, homes are future-proofing their compliance, empowering their teams, and protecting their residents.
Communication Without Compromise
Medication management has always depended on teamwork. Nurses, carers, managers, and pharmacists all share the same goal, to deliver the right medicine, at the right time, every time.
eMAR Plus brings that teamwork to life through real-time updates, shared accountability, and a clear digital trail. It’s communication without compromise, enabling everyone involved in medication management to stay connected, informed, and confident.
From supporting your medication administration policy to improving your nursing care plan for medication management, eMAR Plus gives you the clarity and control needed to deliver safer, smarter care.
When everyone’s in the loop, everyone wins, especially your residents.
