NEWS


ROYAL PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY SCOTLAND ROUND-UP


By Alex MacKinnon, Royal Pharmaceutical Society Director for Scotland


NEW CHAIR FOR ANTIMICROBIAL EXPERT ADVISORY GROUP


AMR matters, but also to increase engagement of pharmacists from all sectors in antimicrobial stewardship.’


Dr Jacqueline Sneddon has been elected as the new Chair of the RPS Antimicrobial Expert Advisory Group (AEAG).


‘I am delighted to be taking over from Harpal Dhillon as Chair of the RPS Antimicrobial Expert Advisory Group,’ Dr Sneddon said of her appointment, ‘and look forward to working with group members from across the four UK nations to continue to provide advice to RPS on


‘I am delighted to welcome Jacqueline as the newly elected Chair of the RPS AEAG,’ added Chief Executive of the RPS, Paul Bennett. ‘Jacqueline has been a highly-valued member of the group since 2015 and she brings a wealth of expertise, experience and networks that will continue to benefit the RPS AEAG and our profession.


‘I am also very thankful to Harpal Dhillon for his Chairmanship over the past three years and for his and the group’s support and advice in developing our Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship campaign, which was launched last year.’


CARE HOME PHARMACISTS: MORE


PROGRESS NEEDED IN SCOTLAND Earlier this week, NHS England announced that the Pharmacy Integration Fund will be used to fund 180 pharmacists and 60 pharmacy technician posts to help improve medicines optimisation (pharmaceutical care) in care homes. This is in addition to their commitment to 500 extra GP practice-based pharmacists this year.


While we acknowledge progress delivered so far as part of the implementation of NHS Polypharmacy Guidance and the commitment expressed in the Scottish Government’s strategy ‘Achieving Excellence in Pharmaceutical Care’, which was published last year, and certainly welcome this development, which will significantly improve care of some of our most vulnerable people in society, we are disappointed by the speed of progress in embedding dedicated, funded roles for pharmacists in care homes and developing models of care that fully harness the skills and expertise of pharmacists.


50 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST


In 2012, the RPS in Scotland launched its ‘Improving Pharmaceutical Care in Care Homes”’ report, calling for a dedicated role pharmacist in every care home to ensure safe and appropriate use of medicines. The report, which highlighted research demonstrating that working as part of the multidisciplinary team, pharmacist-led medicine reviews led to better health outcomes and an improved quality of life, was broadly welcomed by the Scottish Government at the time, however outstanding recommendations from the 2012 report include:


• A dedicated role for pharmacists working in every care home providing pharmaceutical care such as medication reviews to improve pain management, skin health, falls and fracture prevention, palliative and end of life care.


• One community pharmacy and one GP practice aligned to each care home with service level agreements which ensure continuity of care and


RPS NATIONAL PHARMACY BOARD ELECTIONS 2018


As this year’s RPS National Pharmacy Board Elections are fast approaching, we would like to invite you to our online hustings.


This year, we are going to host them online via a Telegram group. Please join us on 17 April between 7pm and 8pm for an evening of informal chat with our National Pharmacy Board Elections candidates. This will be your


chance to ask our candidates any questions you may have in relation to their future roles as part of our Boards.


Closer to the date, we will release the details of our Telegram group together with joining instructions.


The important dates for this year’s elections are:


• 30 April: Voting opens • 18 May: Voting closes • 22 May: Results announced


SAFE AND SECURE HANDLING OF


MEDICINES: A TEAM APPROACH ‘The Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines: a team approach’ was published in 2005 and is essential good practice guidance that is widely used in hospital and across other settings. The guidance, which underpins medicines governance processes in organisations across all Great Britain member nations, is now significantly out of date.


We are currently reviewing and updating this guidance. A draft update to this guidance has been published on the RPS website for open consultation.


This is a multidisciplinary piece of work, and so we are engaging with


cultivate the quality therapeutic partnerships required to improve both care and effective team work.


• Improving safety through better sharing of information between all health and social care professionals involved in patient care including hospital discharge information and clinical information, such as, diagnosis, monitoring, test results, adverse drug reaction and allergies.


We are currently working on a re-fresh of our 2012 report due for publication this summer.


‘We welcome the progress so far within the Scottish Government Dementia Strategy,’ said Aileen Bryson, Head of Practice & Policy, ‘and the prioritisation of care homes


a wide range of stakeholders across Great Britain, including regulators, royal colleges/professional bodies, and expert and specialist groups. We will also be seeking multidisciplinary endorsement. A multidisciplinary advisory group will now engage across professions to ensure that the relevant expertise informs the revision of the guidance.


If you’d like to know more about the project, are interested in joining the advisory group, or have suggestions for how the guidance could be promoted once published, please contact the Professional Support team at support@rpharms.com.


residents in the implementation of the national polypharmacy guidelines but more still needs to be done to achieve a high and consistent quality of care.


‘People living in care homes are, in general, now frailer, nearer the end of their lives, and with more complex needs than in the past. The posts announced for England are indeed welcome news for care home residents south of the border. We would strongly urge the Scottish Government to follow suit to ensure care home residents in Scotland have access to the expertise of a pharmacist and the same level of pharmaceutical care as we provide to the wider community across primary and secondary care.’


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