State health service to roll out 17 ‘Mario’ robots at Mater Dei by 2021

Mater Dei’s first medicine robot, named Mario will help doctors and nurses prescribe the right medicine, the right dosage, and potentially eliminate all human error that could result in intoxication from the dangerous chemical combination.

The first of 17 robots arrived at Mater Dei hospital earlier this week and will be now used to train doctors and nurses. The full line is expected to be deployed by 2021.

Mario, a box-like refrigerator will be paired up to computers and laptops in use by doctors and nurses. Doctors will then issue a barcode for their respective patients.

When the barcode is scanned by nurses and pharmacists, the computer launches a software called Sofia which will show the exact dosage and type of medication prescribed by the doctor.

Mario will then issue that treatment into a smart trolley, which will be delivered to the patient.

While the machinery costs €12 million, the government won’t be paying a lump sum since the agreement with contractor Deenova is that the government will fork out the payment with the money the project will generate via logistic efficiency. The contract is expected to run for 15 years.

“In the hospital, pneumatic tubes attached to Mario will deliver the medicine prescribed to the patients in their respective wards, said Mike Farrugia a management consultant who introduced Mario at Mater Dei on Monday.

On his part, Mater Dei CEO Ivan Falzon said that the basis of Mario and Sofia was simplicity and that every tool the hospital invested in should focus on efficiency, simplicity and how to create a framework to cater for patient safety.

“We also invested in upgrades in the hospital which will complement this project. Mario is considered innovative in the world and is being replicated in places like Holland and Germany,” he said.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said Mario would practically eliminate all human error, such as doctors prescribing the wrong drugs or nurses replacing them.

“Still, the best resource will always remain the human resource,” he said.