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A robot has proved to be an efficient and reliable alternative to a human in dispensing drugs from the pharmacy at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley.

When the film was made in 2010, the hospital administered 55,000 pills every day. Since the robot was introduced in 2005 the hospital has saved time and cut the number of errors.

"When you have a lot of drugs on the shelf, all with similar sounding names, similar packages and similar strengths, it's very easy to pick the wrong box," says Geoff Phipps deputy head of pharmacy at the hospital.

"What the robot does is makes sure that the drug you've done the label for is the drug that's picked."

Richard Cattell, head pharmacist, says: "We take a great deal of pride in driving down our error rates.

"We are seen across the hospital as one of the safest services and in fact a backstop to other people's activities to help them improve their safety."

"The robot has made us more efficient," says Mr Phipps. "Some of the staff can actually be more involved with clinical work, they can go to wards, they can actually speak to patients, they can counsel patients and ensure the patients are taking the medication in the correct way."