Permanent Secretary Peter May recently visited MOIC and met with Director Professor Mike Scott and Deputy Director Dr. Glenda Fleming.
Also in attendance was Northern Trust Chief Executive Jennifer Welsh and Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Cathy Harrison.
We discussed how MOIC are improving patient outcomes in Northern Ireland through better medicine use and are building collaborations throughout Europe.
This year the team in MOIC are focusing on Healthy Lifestyles and making small changes to our work week to improve energy levels, concentration and mood.
MOIC applied for funding under the Trust Health and Wellbeing and Inclusion programme promoting hydration initiative and we were delighted to be successful. We received water bottles, attended a webinar and received information packs. Throughout our offices we have also displayed posters and useful tips on how to stay hydrated in the workplace.
Healthcare Workers have a higher risk of dehydration as they are often working in warm, air conditioned environments and often work long shifts without taking breaks. MOIC have pledged to focus on hydration and small improvements and wish to thank the Trust Health and Wellbeing and Inclusion group for the tips and advice.
Professor Mike Scott Director of MOIC has recently been awarded an MBE for services to pharmacy in Northern Ireland, his pharmacy career spanning over 40 years has resulted in the transformation of pharmacy services within Northern Ireland and his achievements have been recognised worldwide.
Professor Scott has held a number of positions within the Health and Social Care System in Northern Ireland. He is currently the Director of the Regional Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) in Northern Ireland, having previously been the Head of Pharmacy and Medicines Management in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust since 2007
In 1994 he established the first academic practice unit in the province in conjunction with the Queens University of Belfast. In 2004 he was made a fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. In June 2009 he was made an honorary Professor of Pharmacy Practice at QUB. He was awarded the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists gold medal for outstanding contribution to the health service at national level in 2010.
In 2014 he received the special achievement award from the Ulster Chemists Association for outstanding contribution to the development of pharmacy in Northern Ireland. In 2016 he was awarded the United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017 he was part of the expert group working on the technical documents for the WHO Global Challenge to reduce avoidable medication related harm by 50% over 5 years. In 2019 he received the David Samways Award from the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists and most recently he was awarded a visiting professorship with Ulster University (2021).
Throughout his career Professor Scott has been passionate about patient centred medicine and was pivotal in implementing clinical pharmacists onto ward based settings. His work with MOIC is dedicated to driving innovation in medicines use and ensuring that patients get the best outcome from their medicines.
Speaking about his MBE Professor Scott said;
“It is an honour and a privilege to be recognised in the New Year’s Honours list. Pharmacy has changed tremendously over the last 40 years and I am pleased that this work undertaken over the years with a number of highly motivated and enthusiastic colleagues primarily from both the health service and academia has contributed to improving the profession and has made a difference to the people of Northern Ireland. I have committed my professional life to improving pharmacy services in all settings and it is an honour to be a recipient of an MBE.”
MOIC are attending the Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS) Extension Sharing and Learning Event.
The CwPAMS programme is funded by the UK Department for Health and Social Care’s Fleming Fund and delivered through a partnership between the Tropical Health and Education Trust and the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association. The programme supports 14 Health Partnerships between health institutions in the UK and their counterparts across Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, and Uganda to strengthen capacity related to antimicrobial stewardship.
With the extension programme ending in June, the purpose of the event is for the current partnerships to share their overall achievements and challenges. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn about what has been achieved through the programme, and to interact with partnerships, provide feedback, insight, and suggestions on the sustainability of outputs and outcomes going forward.
This links with the ongoing MOIC work with CPA.
MOIC has signed an MOU with PrescQIPP Objectives. They have agreed to work together to pursue joint work in relation to the development and implementation of medicines optimisation in line with the objectives of both organisations.
PrescQIPP are a UK based organisation and are an NHS funded not-for-profit organisation that supports quality, optimised prescribing for patients.
Their mission is to help NHS organisations to improve medicines-related care to patients, through the provision of robust, accessible and evidence-based resources. These objectives are perfectly aligned to MOIC objectives and we excited to work together.
Speaking about the MOU Carol Roberts Chief Executive PrescQIPP CIC said;
“We are delighted to have signed an MOU with The Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre, Northern Health & Social Care Trust (MOIC). Our shared objectives in promoting innovation and good practice to optimise medicines related care for patients make us natural allies, and we are excited to explore opportunities to increase impact by doing so together. We hope that we will be able to complement MOIC’s detailed understanding of excellence within Northern Ireland with our experience of platforming best practice and supporting commissioners across the UK, for the benefit of the whole patient population.”