PHARMACIST TAKES CENTRE STAGE


Specialist Infection Pharmacist and Clinical Practitioner, Shay Khan, is treading the boards to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance. We caught up with him to learn more about the musical “Lifeline” which is just finishing a five week run at Southwark Playhouse, Elephant, London. The cast is made up of West End talent and real healthcare workers, including Shay who works at Whittington Health NHS Trust where he splits his time between directly caring for patients with complex infections and leading antimicrobial stewardship across the hospital.


You’re currently one of 60 healthcare professionals appearing in Lifeline, can you tell us about the musical?


The story was conceived in Scotland originally and it has gone through a few iterations, but it tells the story of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). It was created to reach a different audience because NHS campaigns are often targeted towards certain individuals, especially those with comorbidities, those dependent on healthcare or people who are older. Lifeline has a slightly more unique reach and it takes a novel approach. Without giving too much away, the story is essentially two storylines running in parallel - one based in the past focussing on Alexander Fleming and one about a junior doctor working in today’s NHS.


How did you first hear about the musical and become involved?


I originally heard about it through a letter that the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy sent out. I am a member of the Society and I get regular updates from them. When I saw it I just thought, there is no way something like this exists, absolutely no way. So I did a bit of digging and then I saw it start popping up on LinkedIn.


I had always wanted to do something with singing and drama, but I had no professional experience and I grew up in Pakistan where there wasn’t much opportunity to join the arts. When this came up I thought - okay well this is kind of perfect.


I get to use a slightly different skill set, something that I am really passionate about, but also keep it in the realm of infection which is my day to day. I think it is just such a good way to raise awareness.


“I think the most important thing is education and a willingness to learn...”


40 pharmacyinfocus.co.uk


Why did you think it is important for healthcare professionals to be part of the show?


I think it grounds the message and it makes the musical and the message come to life. I think people will connect with it more that way and it feels more authentic. There is definitely a big range of healthcare workers involved, we have a few pharmacists, doctors, epidemiologists, people that work in research or who are doing PHDs as well as people early on in their training. Sometimes it is quite sobering when you are all there discussing each other’s roles and how AMR is a constant theme across everyone’s job no matter what they do.


In your role as a pharmacist and advanced clinical practitioner, can you tell us about the AMR challenges you have seen first hand?


My job involves seeing people in clinic with chronic and complex infections. A lot of people that I see on a day to day basis are people who have drug resistant organisms and, as a result, have to rely on very broad spectrum antibiotics that can have a lot of side effects or antibiotics that can only be given intravenously. They have to use a specific service called the OPAT service (outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy). Quite a few hospitals have this service now because there is a growing need for it. It is to make sure patients who require intravenous, high dose, complex antibiotics can have them delivered in the community rather than occupy a bed in the hospital. This also means you reduce the risk of them catching any other infections while they are in hospital as they are not exposed to viruses and drug resistant organisms that are inherently present in hospitals.


Seeing the need for such a service raises the importance of actually preventing infection and preventing the transmission of resistance because, had these bugs not evolved over the years because of the misuse of antibiotics, we wouldn’t necessarily need to go to such lengths to provide complex antibiotics in the community.


How do you think this musical will make a difference?


It is already drumming up a lot of interest from people within healthcare that don’t necessarily work in AMR. So it actually educates people that look after patients but who perhaps haven’t had the experience of dealing with AMR first hand. This [musical] may provide them with a bit of a backstory and more information around resistance.


It also targets young people and people that work in the arts who don’t normally come across healthcare messaging yet because they are young and well. So it reaches a much wider audience than an advert or conventional campaign would. There is also the opportunity with something like this to perform it in schools to target younger people, so you aren’t only targeting adults of all ages but kids too.


What message about AMR do you hope audiences take away from the show?


The main message that probably needs to come across is that antibiotics don’t cure viral infections. Also, a lot of people still believe they have allergies to penicillin because they were labelled as allergic when they were younger. This actually ends up wiping out the first line of antibiotics that you can use, and if you add resistance on top of that, then it severely limits the types of antibiotics you can use in certain populations. So another thing I would say is always make sure you challenge allergies when you are not sure if it is a true allergy. Finally, always make sure that you are only using antibiotics as prescribed by a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.


Have you always harboured an ambition to be a star on the stage?


I have but I was always a bit scared to dip my toe in the water as I hadn’t really done any drama. So when this came around I thought well it is not too far removed from what I do on a day to day basis and it should come slightly more naturally to me. When I was prepping for the audition a friend said - just pretend you are at work - and I thought - oh yes I can do that, I am good at that. I think that made it a bit easier. I am excited to see how this works out and hopefully I may look to do similar things in the future because of how much of a positive experience this has been.


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