MOOP programme wins UK award
The Medicines Optimisation in Older People (MOOP) team was announced as the winner of the ‘Making Health and Social Care Patient friendly’ category at the AbbVie 2017 Sustainable Healthcare ‘Patients as Partners’ Awards. The award was presented by Carrie Grant, Patient Advocate, at the annual sustainable healthcare conference at The King’s Fund in London. The conference focused on how proven innovation can be spread across the NHS more quickly.
Cost saving on medicines
The MOOP programme was recognised for its outstanding achievements, demonstrating improvements in the optimisation of medicines for older people in private care homes and reablement wards, where clinical pharmacy is not normally available. By joining up care it has had significant benefits for older people including a 14% drop in inappropriate presentations to Emergency Departments and a decrease in adverse drug events. Cost saving on medicines of £141-180 per patients could realise an estimated £41-52 million saving if spread to all care homes in England and Wales. The approach has already been rolled out to all five Health Trusts in Northern Ireland.
The MOOP programme is jointly run by Western and Northern Health & Social Care Trusts (HSCT).
“This project is to be congratulated for the way it brings together different services around the needs of the patient and delivers evidence based results, which are cost effective and scalable”
Sue Farringdon, Chair of the Patients Information Forum
High quality pharmaceutical focus
As a winner in the this category, the team will receive a bursary of up to £3000 to spend on research to grow their own experience and share best practice that will benefit patients and/or the NHS.
Carmel Darcy, Consultant Pharmacist at Western HSCT, said: “I am absolutely delighted for the team that we have won this award. Our project continues to deliver a high quality pharmaceutical focus for older people across Northern Ireland. Until now no project has accepted a holistic responsibility for the many medicines prescribed to our older people. By navigating the many prescribers and specialists involved in the care of the older people they encounter, our team places what matters to the patient at the centre of every medicine decision.”
Category Judge – Sue Farringdon, Chair of the Patients Information Forum said: “This project is to be congratulated for the way it brings together different services around the needs of the patient and delivers evidence based results, which are cost effective and scalable. The project tackled a clear unmet where previously there was no point of contact for patients, carers and staff and a high rate of inappropriate presentation of these patients to Trust A&E departments. The project refined and tested models, involving Consultant Pharmacist led case management and brought together GP Practices, care home managers, intermediate care, and specialist nurses and patients.”
Sustainable healthcare
The awards were created by AbbVie to recognise, celebrate and raise awareness of good examples of improvements that demonstrate clear benefit to the lives of patients and make our health services more sustainable.
Jerome Bouyer, UK General Manager, AbbVie commented: “The AbbVie Sustainable Healthcare Initiative develops ways to achieve better healthcare outcomes and experience for people living with long-term conditions while also making best use of limited resources. Whatever we at AbbVie can do to identify and support those who are providing great public services that allows system efficiencies is, we hope, a useful contribution.”
The full shortlisted finalists were:
- WINNER: Medicines Optimisation in Older People – Western & Northern Health and Social Care Trust Trusts
- FINALIST: Cheshire and Merseyside Palliative Care Audit – North West Coast Strategic Clinical Network
- FINALIST: Community Linking Project – St Albans and Crowhall Medical Groups/Edberts House
More on the awards, click on AbbVie 2017.
Location: AbbVie 2017 Sustainable Healthcare ‘Patients as Partners’ Awards at The King’s Fund, London on 28 November 2017.
