A ten-month pilot in Jersey is trialling automated medication dispensers in people’s homes, aiming to cut missed and incorrect doses for those managing long-term conditions.

A Familiar Problem, A Digital Answer

Getting the right medication to the right person at the right time sounds straightforward. In practice, it is one of the most persistent challenges in home care. 

The World Health Organisation has estimated that patients do not take between 30 and 50 per cent of medicines prescribed for long-term conditions. That’s why the Government of Jersey has launched a ten-month pilot of automated medication dispensers placed directly in people’s homes.

The scheme, funded with £77,500 awarded by Impact Jersey through Digital Jersey, will be delivered by Evondos, a European technology company with an established track record in automated medicine dispensing across the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. 

The pilot targets residents who take multiple medicines, are managing long-term conditions, or require ongoing support from care providers for whom the consequences of a missed or incorrect dose are most acute.

What The Technology Does

The Evondos dispenser operates as a locked unit installed in the home, dispensing pre-packaged medication at scheduled times. 

Only approved care staff may access the medicines, eliminating the risk of overdose or other misuse, while untaken doses are moved into a locked container to maintain medication safety. 

The device provides spoken instructions, sound signals, and written prompts on its screen to guide users through each dose, a feature designed to support those with memory difficulties or cognitive decline. 

Beyond dispensing, the system incorporated in the Jersey pilot will also monitor vital signs such as heart rate and maintain a live connection with care teams and pharmacies, enabling faster responses when concerns arise. 

Nick Hucker, Evondos UK managing director, said, “The system is designed to deliver medication accurately, prevent access outside scheduled times and alert care teams if doses are missed.” He added that he hoped it would deliver a solution helping people live more independently.

For the care workforce, the implications are equally significant. Rather than requiring frequent medication visits, care staff would only need to refill the dispenser approximately every two weeks, freeing up time to focus on broader assessments of a client’s wellbeing. 

The Government of Jersey has stated that reducing the need for multiple daily visits from care staff is a central ambition of the project.

Evidence From The UK Mainland

Evondos has already begun generating real-world evidence in England through a partnership with Kyndi, a Local Authority Trading Company owned by Medway Unitary Council.

 Kyndi has calculated annualised savings of £1.46 million from the deployment, while medication adherence among users increased from 40 per cent to 90 per cent, with a corresponding reduction in care visits and hospital admissions.

That shift from near-half adherence to nine in ten is not a marginal improvement. It represents a fundamental change in the reliability of medication management for people receiving care at home, and directly addresses one of the most stubborn inefficiencies in community health delivery. Tony Moretta, chief executive of Digital Jersey, described the Jersey pilot as “a strong example of innovation being applied to a genuine everyday challenge.”

Evondos established a UK subsidiary in 2025 and has already demonstrated measurable cost savings in pilot deployments, with the appointment of a UK country manager in 2026 signalling further intent to expand across the country. 

The company’s chief internationalisation officer, Mika Apell, said the Medway results represented “a strong real-life example of implementing three shifts of the NHS 10-year health plan: from analogue to digital, from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.” 

As the sector continues its shift towards technology-enabled care, pilots such as this one in Jersey carry weight beyond their immediate geography. They test not only whether the technology works in controlled conditions, but whether it is practical, accepted, and cost-effective when placed in real homes in real communities. If the ten-month trial delivers what its backers anticipate, it will add meaningful momentum to the case for rolling out smart dispensing solutions more widely across both island and mainland community health services.