NEWS


Health researchers secure Saudi Arabia


project funding Health researchers from Aberdeen have secured significant funding for an innovative project to explore medication errors and adverse drug reactions in the


Middle East. Professor Derek Stewart from Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, and principal researcher in RGU’s Institute for Health and Wellbeing Research (IHWR), leads an experienced research team which aims to help Saudi Arabia enhance its healthcare provision.


His team has recently been awarded a research grant of £130,000 from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Science, Technology and Innovation Plan.


The project involves researchers from RGU, the University of Aberdeen and Queen’s University Belfast working with a team from Saudi Arabia led by Dr Mansour Tobaiqy.


The recent award follows £350,000 in funding last year from the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) to identify what causes medication errors and the organisation’s subsequent reporting structures.


Professor Stewart has developed strong links in the Middle East and is


delighted to build on the university’s existing portfolio of collaborative working in the region.


He said, “This is an exciting venture which will combine expertise in the UK and the Middle East to improve patient safety and appropriate uses of medicines.”


Professor Cherry Wainwright, Director of RGU’s Institute for Health & Wellbeing Research said: “This funding award not only reflects Professor Stewarts’ international reputation in the field of medication errors, but also reflects that this is a global problem that needs to be tackled.”


Professor Donald Cairns, Head of RGU’s School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, added, “This latest award is further recognition for Prof Stewart and his team and is one more example of the important relationships between staff from the school and colleagues from the Middle East and Gulf region.”


Pharmacy Deal Workshop


Edinpharm are organising a training afternoon for community pharmacists and their teams to be held later this Summer. ‘The Pharmacy Deal Workshop’ will be held on July 8th


, 2015 in Edinburgh,


supported by Macroberts Solicitors, Springfords Accountants, The Healthcare Consultancy and Pharmacy Sales UK.


Attendees will be invited to consider the various factors involved with business purchases, sales and how to prepare for either activity in terms of financials, legal issues and general aspects of a transaction.


For more information on attending please contact Edinpharm on telephone 0131 441 3773.


14 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST RPS respond to Public Health Bill


Earlier this month, the Scottish Government announced key provisions that will be included in the proposed Public Health Bill due to be introduced in the Scottish Parliament later this year. This comes on the back of three consultations, all of which the RPS in Scotland responded to, namely:


• Consultation on Proposals for an Offence of Wilful Neglect or Ill- treatment in Health and Social Care Settings


• Consultation on Electronic Cigarettes and Strengthening Tobacco Control in Scotland


• Proposals to Introduce a Statutory Duty of Candour for Health and Social Care Services


Following these consultations, the Scottish Government proposes to ban the sale of non-medicinal e-cigarettes to under 18s, and to also make it an offense for an adult to buy them for a minor. E-cigarette retailers will be required to be registered on a central register, as is currently the case for tobacco retailers.


Reacting to the announcement, Alex MacKinnon MRPharmS, Director for Scotland, said, “We are very pleased that the Scottish Government will ban the sale of non-medicinal e-cigarettes to under 18s. This is an element we called very strongly for in our response to new rules on the marketing of e-cigarettes proposed by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice. In this response as well as in our earlier policy statement we argued that in order not to undermine recent advances in public health policy, e-cigarettes should be treated in exactly the same way as any other form of smoking, including the same age restrictions as applied to tobacco products and restrictions on their use in public spaces, advertising and displays.


“We recommend pharmacies only utilise e-cigarettes to support people attempting to quit smoking. Once licensed by the MHRA (i.e. medicinal e-cigarettes) would be out-with the scope of the proposed Bill and would therefore registration would not be required.”


Wilful neglect/ill-treatment and duty of candour


The Bill will also contain provisions that create a criminal offence of


wilful neglect/ill-treatment, to protect people from deliberate neglect or ill-treatment in the health and social care system. Furthermore the Bill will include measures to introduce a statutory duty of candour for health and social care organisations, placing a duty on them to be open when harm has occurred, to provide support to all involved and training for staff involved with organisational responses after an incident.


In response to these announcements, Aileen Bryson MRPharmS, Practice & Policy Lead, said, “While in principle we welcome these proposals, we are conscious that the provisions will need to be clearly worded and defined to ensure that genuine mistakes and errors are not part of this process. There needs to be a culture of openness and learning to ensure patient safety and continually improve patient care."


• As healthcare professionals we fully support the principles of honesty and openness when things go wrong. However, for the pharmacy profession there is a singular problem of concern which has not yet been resolved, where a genuine dispensing error can result in a criminal prosecution due to the wording of the Medicines Act 1968.


• Pharmacists, uniquely among health professionals could be liable for criminal prosecution when declaring a dispensing error in the normal course of their duties, even when no harm resulted. A change in the legislation is required to align pharmacy with all other healthcare professionals.


• Legislation is forthcoming, albeit slowly, from Westminster to address this but until resolved, regrettably therefore, we propose that at the present time a statutory duty of candour must not be commenced for pharmacists until this issue has been resolved by amending the Medicines Act 1968 appropriately.


RPS Scotland will be meeting civil servants in a few weeks to discuss the implications for pharmacy in more detail. If any members would like to discuss any of these issues in more detail please get in touch with aileen.bryson@rpharms.com / 0131 524 2008.


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