The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industries (ABPI) (http://www.abpi.org.uk/) is a body representing some 120 pharmaceutical companies of all sizes.  Member companies have commitment to working with the NHS and the HSC on a range of projects.  Such projects are strictly governed under the ABPI Code of Practice and companies must comply with this when engaging with NHS/HSC partners (ABPI 2021 Code of Practice).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the ABPI and the Northern Ireland Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) (on behalf of the HSC) in September 2020. This MOU established a formal partnership, the HSC Industry Partnership (HSCIP), under which the ABPI will work together in partnership with the HSC to introduce transformative, medicines-related innovation across the Health and Social Care system over the next 5 years.

The HSCIP is a ‘Portal’ process, acting as a conduit for collaborative proposals to improve health outcomes for patients.  Ideas for these projects may originate in two ways: either from a need expressed by Health and Social Care and/ or from ideas proposed by individual companies or collectives of companies.

A library of 185 UK joint and collaborative working case studies is available to date.  This includes 9 projects from Northern Ireland (NI) NHS-Industry Partnership Case Studies Library (abpi.org.uk).

Case study example: NI Regional Heart Failure Service Transformation Project

A call in the area of heart failure was drafted by clinical leads and MOIC.  This was issued to industry partners, via the ABPI, in March 2023.  Following an evaluation process, a commercial partner was selected to work with MOIC and the Cardiac Network at SPPG on a 12 month project.  Governance arrangements were established and a Strategic Leadership Group was formed prior to commencing the project in September 2023.  The project was conducted as an Industry Donation of Goods and Services under which the industry partner donated expertise and time.

The project aimed to address three key priority areas of the heart failure pathway in Northern Ireland (NI):

  • Early Identification and Referral
  • Triage and Patient Prioritisation
  • Optimal Treatment and Discharge

Initially, workshops, facilitated by the commercial partner, were held at various locations across NI with representatives from each HSC Trust to map the current heart failure pathway and identify variance/bottle-necks in the system.  Mapping workshops were well supported and included representation from Cardiology Consultants; Heart Failure Nurse Specialists from both primary and secondary care; Pharmacists and Service Managers.  Based on these findings, key recommendations will be made to create a more streamlined and equitable heart failure service for NI.

Task and Finish groups were subsequently established to work on the three priority areas.  Each HSC Trust was represented by a range of secondary care heart failure specialists, Service Managers, GPs, GP Pharmacists and community-based nurses.  These groups contributed to the modelling of a future pathway for heart failure services in NI, according to clinical guidelines and gold standards of heart failure care.  A draft of the new future service specification is expected in September 2024, which will be used by SPPG to inform a business case.  An in-person event is being planned for late 2024 to showcase the success of the project.