What do your colleagues think about the musical and are they coming to see you perform?
I am worried that half of the auditorium in the first week is going to be my friends and family! I shared it with the communications team at the hospital and they have run a few stories on it. My close colleagues, like the consultants, the registrars and some of the pharmacists are all coming to see it which is going to be very nice. A lot of them were shocked when I told them what I was doing because I didn’t really share my secret passion for singing and acting with a lot of people, my friends and family knew but not really my colleagues.
What can members of the public do to help prevent AMR?
I think the most important thing is education and a willingness to learn. We are taught to empower our patients and the general public to learn more about their own health. So go out of your way to learn something new every now and then, listen to your healthcare providers. There is so much information out there now but with AI you don’t always get the right information. So make sure you go to your doctor, your nurse, your pharmacist. Even if it is a controversial conversation that you want to have, still have it. Learn and feel empowered to challenge the previous norms of antibiotic prescribing and stand up for yourself.
My one gripe is when I take my dog to the vet, the second anything is wrong with her, the vets just want to pump her full of antibiotics. I always challenge that and say let’s take a step back - I am not sure it is an infection can we consider other things like allergies. So it is not just about what you or your family take, you have to take a one health approach. The food you are having, make sure it is not genetically treated with specific pesticides, make sure you are not always using antibiotics on pets. Also make sure you are washing your hands. If you visit a family member in hospital then wear a mask, gloves and an apron if they have resistant organisms. I think these are all things the general public can do to prevent infection transmission and raise awareness.
What else can community pharmacies do to prevent AMR?
Initiatives like Pharmacy First are such a good scheme and it enables access to critical early treatment. I think managing patient expectations can often sometimes be quite anxiety inducing when someone comes in and they want an antibiotic. It is about making sure community pharmacies, if they are delivering the service, ensure they have undertaken continued professional development so they feel confident enough to have those consultations with patients. There are so many things out there - non medical prescribing courses, courses around consultation skills that you may not have had conventionally in the community. It is about having that skill set ironed out and ready for those complex conversations with patients about infections. Management isn’t just about antibiotic treatment or therapy but making sure you diagnose patients properly and refer patients to a GP for the right tests where appropriate.
Final question - pharmacist or singer - which do you prefer?
Well the hospital is my stage and for now I will be performing on the wards!
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LIFELINE A REVIEW
A couple of the team were invited to the opening night of Lifeline. Here’s what they had to say about it….
“A unique approach of using the arts to raise awareness of a critical public health challenge, ‘Lifeline’ is a musical with an extremely important warning. The story takes the audience on a journey through the life of the ‘father of antibiotics’, Sir Alexander Fleming and his discovery of the world’s first true antibiotic agent, penicillin in 1928, whilst simultaneously using a modern day love story to highlight the pressing crisis of AMR and the threat of drug resistant infections or ‘superbugs’.
The show was an emotional rollercoaster but effectively highlighted the very real threat of AMR and how it affects people from every walk of life. It drove home the message that so much of modern medicine relies on antibiotics, everything from cancer treatments to post- operative care for everyday surgical procedures such as caesarean sections and the very real threat of AMR to the safe outcomes for patients.
In the musical, Sir Alexander Fleming quotes ‘this lifeline is not infallible’ which builds on his realisation that bacteria are very clever and the misuse of antibiotics would lead to widespread resistance. This single quote effectively captures the entire message of the show and how delicate the crucial lifeline of antibiotics is to the health of the global population. It illustrates that everyone from medical personnel to scientists, policy makers and governments and the general public themselves have a role to play in saving antibiotics. The show engaged the audience throughout, using powerful, relatable storytelling to highlight AMR. It inspired calls for action at a systems level while reinforcing the importance of responsible antibiotic use.”
By Carolyn Rutherford
“Lifeline - history with high energy, humour and humanity! It starts off fun and upbeat, then slowly hits you with some more hard hitting stuff around the impact of an antibiotic crisis… and that contrast really works. Not a lecture, but it definitely makes you think about the overuse, over reliance and misunderstandings around antibiotics. There’s also a parallel love story across two timelines (with some very relatable awkward moments), which keeps it feeling really personal alongside the bigger theme of the musical. Overall, it feels both professional and personal. Engaging, eye-opening, and one we were still talking about after it finished.”
By Amy Stephenson
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