Installation of new pharmacy robot marks next step in Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s digital transformation

Some of our pharmacy colleagues in front of our new pharmacy robot, holding ribbon.

Published: 16 January 2026

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust has installed a new automated dispensing robot in its inpatient pharmacy, supplied by Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited (BD). The robot, named Spencer (the dispenser) by pharmacy colleagues, replaces the Trust’s previous system, which was in operation for more than 18 years and dispensed over 3.4 million packs of medicines during that time.

The new robot will enhance the speed, accuracy and reliability of medicines dispensing and has been configured to integrate with the Trust’s new electronic patient record (EPR), due to go live in April. This upgrade will support safer workflows and more efficient preparation and supply of medicines across the Trust’s acute and community services.

Paul Foster, Chief Pharmacist, said: “The installation of Spencer marks a real step forward for our pharmacy service. Our team worked incredibly hard during the transition period — manually processing every prescription — to keep patients safe and ensure discharges could continue smoothly. Having Spencer now in place gives us speed, accuracy and reliability, and crucially, puts us in a strong position ahead of our EPR launch in April.”

Sven Thoresen for Becton Dickinson U.K. Limited added: “We’re delighted to partner with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust to provide their new In-Patient robot. Automated dispensing technology provides significant workflow, efficiency and safety benefits, and we’re proud to support the Trust and the Pharmacy Team as it modernises its pharmacy infrastructure.”

Kate Lissett, Chief Medical Officer, said: “This new robot provides a much needed improvement to our medicines dispensing arrangements. I want to thank our pharmacy and capital development teams for the way they managed the installation and maintained safe patient care throughout, particularly over the Christmas and New Year period. Their professionalism ensured continuity for patients while this essential upgrade was completed.”

Spencer is now fully operational and supporting the inpatient pharmacy service.