Introducing the North School of Pharmacy Medicines Optimisation

Each month we introduce you to a new team in the north west. This team actually works across the north, which includes the north west region. Dr Jane Brown, Pharmacy Dean, explains what the team do and what their priorities are.  

The school helps the people of the north to live healthier lives and make the right choices when medicines are an appropriate treatment. We do this by ensuring that staff in health and social care have the right skills, knowledge and behaviours achieved through the best possible provision of education and training in medicines optimisation. This includes registered healthcare professionals in pharmacy, medical, dental, nursing and AHP teams and unregistered staff.  

Our priorities are to implement new initial education and training standards for pharmacists which will result in pharmacists being able to prescribe independently on registration in the next few years, delivering post-registration development pathways to build educator capability and capacity, expanding the numbers of pharmacy technicians, leading community pharmacist clinical development and raising the profile of mental health competencies for all pharmacy professionals.  

We actually work across the whole of the north! We have teams associated with the different workstreams and also have links with each of the ICSs.

We can help with anything related to medicines or prescribing and how community pharmacy teams in particular can be utilised to reduce pressure on general practice and support people to live healthier lives and if anyone would like to speak to us please email Medicinesoptimisation.north@hee.nhs.uk