THE ILLEGIBILITY of doctors' handwriting is a long-standing joke - now a Scottish hospital is developing a system that could end the problem of indecipherable prescriptions.

A new electronic prescribing system is being put on trial at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. It is hoped it could one day replace traditional charts at the end of a patient's bed.

Instead of jotting down information on paper - which can go missing or be misread - the new software enables doctors and nurses to use a laptop-style computer to record the prescription and administration of drugs.

While medics' bad handwriting is often the subject of jokes, it can lead to errors in the dosage of medicines given to patients, with potentially fatal consequences. Four years ago, a 79-year-old man from Sheffield died after being given twice his regular dose of medication. The mistake happened after a receptionist at his GP practice misread a doctor's handwriting.

And one American study published earlier this year found hospitals that had switched to computerised prescription systems saw errors fall by two-thirds.

Katie Went, a PhD student at Dundee University who has developed the new technology in conjunction with hospital staff, said it was hoped it would improve patient safety by reducing mistakes.

"The paper system has the potential to allow prescriptions to be entered incorrectly or be misinterpreted," she said. "Paper can also go missing or get damaged - the electronic system resolves this by ensuring that all data is backed up."

The technology is designed to look like the paper system currently in use, and guides doctors and nurses through a series of steps to ensure all necessary information is recorded. It is being piloted in the intensive care unit of the hospital, but could eventually be rolled out to be used across all wards.

"Last week, it was used with one patient," Went said. "Based on the feedback from the doctors and nurses, we are making changes and will then repeat the evaluation to identify further refinements within the next couple of months.

"If it works in intensive care - where patients are on a lot of different drugs and some in complex combinations - it will be easier to introduce into a general ward."

However, as the project is still in the early research stage, the cost of having such a system on each patient bed has not yet been evaluated.

"Ultimately, the idea would be to have one on the end of each patient's bed instead of the paper prescription chart used currently," Went added.

The technology was this month demonstrated at an event hosted by an Edinburgh-based consultancy firm that advises companies on how to optimise designs for "usability". Emma Kirk, strategic director of User Vision, said: "The opportunity that this particular system enables is tremendous and there has been fantastic feedback from clinicians and the people who are going to be using it."

The NHS is increasingly turning to technology to replace traditional systems of working - for example, an increasing number of hospitals are using digital images instead of film X-rays. However, not all initiatives have proven successful. An online recruitment system for junior doctors - introduced last year - was eventually abandoned after problems, including numerous system crashes and security lapses.

Last week it was announced that a new health technology "co-operative" - the first of its kind in the UK - is being set up in Glasgow to identify gaps and solutions in medical technology. It is hoped the collaboration between NHS Greater Glasgow and Strathclyde University will lead to innovations to potentially tackle issues such as obesity.

Professor Patricia Connolly, director of the Strathclyde Institute of Medical Devices, said: "The co-operative will help accelerate the pace of medical device development by bringing together health professionals with a team of technology experts across the science, engineering and medical disciplines."