by Edel O'Sullivan, | Jan 5, 2023 | News Release, Press
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.”
by Edel O'Sullivan, | Jun 30, 2022 | News Release, Press
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.
by Edel O'Sullivan, | Jun 23, 2022 | News Release, Press
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.”
by Edel O'Sullivan, | Jun 1, 2022 | News Release, Press
The Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) has been working with colleagues in Cluster Saude de Galicia (CSG), Spain, on innovation in healthcare, including digital technology.
Cluster Saude de Galicia (CSG) is a private, non-profit entity for public-private cooperation to support innovation in the co-creation of solutions that improve peoples’ health and well-being. As a professional collaboration platform for global projects and alliance, CSG has over 80 partners, 50 projects and more than 100 markets, with the aim of continuing to create global alliances for the economic and social development of Galicia. Learn More.
Members include patient associations, entrepreneurs/start-ups, regulators, small and medium-sized enterprises, multinationals as well as universities, technology centres, biomedical foundations, non-profit associations and professionals from health and social care sectors.
Learning Expedition to NI
MOIC was delighted to host a delegation of 9 visitors from Galicia for their first Learning Expedition to NI. The aim was to learn more about the NI Health and Life Sciences Ecosystem and find partners within NI that could lead to successful collaborations and business relationships. The Galician delegation included the General Secretary of the Regional Ministry of Health, Vice General Director of Comprehensive Social and Health Care from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the CSG President, Managing Director, Business Developer and International Trade Technician, and representatives from the Health Tech industry.
MOIC and Invest NI developed a 4-day programme to showcase innovation and facilitate introductions in the NI Health and Life Sciences Ecosystem. The Launch Event in Invest NI included presentations from Cathy Harrison (Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, DH), Prof Mike Scott (Director, MOIC), Brendan McGuigan (Invest NI), Joann Rhodes (HIRANI) and Stephen Kelly (Department for the Economy) and Rocío Mosquera Álvarez (President, CSG).
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between MOIC and CSG was signed at the Launch event by Prof Mike Scott and Rocío Mosquera Álvarez. The MOU strengthens the partnership to collaborate around research, learning exchange, innovation and business development.
Throughout the 4-day programme the delegation had a series of meetings, demos and discussions on Medicines Optimisation, Digital Innovation, and technologies to support Active and Healthy Living and enjoyed a number of site visits across NI, including Ulster University, Queen’s University, DIAL and C-TRIC.
It is anticipated that a delegation from MOIC and NI will visit Galicia in the Autumn to learn more about the innovation in the Region and further strengthen partnerships.
by Edel O'Sullivan, | May 24, 2022 | News Release, Press
Today Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre (MOIC) has welcomed colleagues from Cluster Saude de Galicia (CSG), Spain to Belfast. The event is part of CSGs Learning Expedition (LEX) to Northern Ireland. Their aim is to learn more about the Northern Ireland Health and Life Sciences Ecosystem and find partners within Northern Ireland that could lead to successful collaborations, business relationships and ultimately learn innovate ways to improve healthcare delivery.
MOIC is a regional centre in Northern Ireland dedicated to delivering medicines optimisation and innovative healthcare. MOIC is the only dedicated medicines optimisation centre in Europe and are uniquely positioned to work alongside the health sector and the private sector to improve medicines use and patient care.
MOIC has been linking with colleagues in Cluster Saude de Galicia (CSG), Spain, around innovation in healthcare, including digital technology for some time and today will sign an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will ensure the two organisations will work together on all areas of health innovation.
The CSG delegation will include 10-12 representatives from the Regional Ministry of Health, healthcare industry and technology companies from across the Spanish region. This learning exhibition is a great opportunity to build collaboration and share learning with CSG and work together to improve healthcare delivery for both regions. Throughout the 3 day visit CSG will meet with Life Sciences companies from across Northern Ireland and they will showcase what they have to offer.
Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Cathy Harrison said;
“It was a pleasure to attend the event this morning and to welcome colleagues from Cluster Saude de Galicia to Northern Ireland. The MOU between MOIC and CSG will enable the two organisations to learn from each other and to bring innovative ideas into our health service. This MOU will build on existing collaborations that MOIC has built throughout Europe and enables MOIC to deliver on one of its key objectives of share learning”
Speaking at the event Professor Scott Director of MOIC said;
“We are delighted to welcome colleagues from Spain this morning and to build on our relationship. Both regions face the same healthcare challenges such as ageing populations, more complex conditions and have big pressures on health services. This MOU formalises working together to discuss these challenges and we will look at resources from both the private sector and the health service to improve health innovation.”
Invest Northern Ireland hosted the visit at its Belfast headquarters. As part of this, Invest NI shared an overview of the Life and Health Sciences sector in Northern Ireland, and connected MOIC with local companies that are involved in the innovation of the healthcare sector.
