Great North Pharmacy Research Collaborative Conference 2024
This year’s theme is Spotlight on Women’s Health: rewriting the narrative.
Date and time
Location
Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead
Bottle Bank Gateshead NE8 2AR United KingdomAbout this event
The theme for our annual conference is: Spotlight on Women’s Health: rewriting the narrative.
The full agenda can be viewed here
We will showcase Foundation Pharmacist projects and work undertaken by pharmacy professionals from hospital, community and primary care, as well as examples of research undertaken at our local academic institutions. Crucially, this event will be an opportunity to meet peers and leaders from across the profession, to share, learn, support and be supported.
The 2024 conference will be chaired by:
- Julia Blagburn, Consultant Pharmacist for Integration, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Anne Black, Regional QA Specialist Pharmacist – NENC, Pharmacy Production and QC, Specialist Pharmacy Service
We are delighted to welcome the following speakers to the conference:
- Stephanie Watson, Clinical Pharmacy Technician, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Carla Cressy, CEO and Founder, The Endometriosis Foundation
- Samantha Allen, Chief Executive, NENC ICB
- Prof Adam Todd, Professor of Pharmaceutical Public Health, Newcastle University
- Tase Oputu, Associate Director of Medicines Optimisation, Medicines Value & Performance -NHS Kent & Medway, Chair, English Pharmacy Board, Royal Pharmaceutical Society
- Alice Wiseman, Director of Public Health Gateshead and Newcastle, Gateshead Council
- Ivan Hollingsworth, Director, Centric Consultants Limited
- Chi Onwurah MP, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central
@GtNorthPharmRes #GNPRC2024
The full agenda can be viewed here
By working together as one pharmacy team across multiple organisations and sectors we have a unique opportunity to improve the quality of care, reduce the risk of harm from medicines and increase efficiencies.
Exhibitors
Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE)
Clinical Digital Resource Collaborative (CDRC)
Clinical Entrepreneur Programme
Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
Health Innovation NENC (HI NENC)
NHS North East and Yorkshire Genomic Medicine Service Alliance
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre (RDTC)
Regional Local Pharmacy Committee
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Breakout Session Overviews
Session One
Clinical: Drugs in Pregnancy
Paula Russell, Principal Pharmacist, Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre
Dr Luke Richardson, Principal Medical Information Scientist and Data Manager, UKTIS
An interactive session on the topic of prescribing in pregnancy addressing common questions about the safe use of medicines in pregnancy. We will also cover a case study and provide an overview of how to look at and interpret evidence and research data on medicines in pregnancy.
Leadership: How to think strategically
Julie Swaddle, Chief Pharmacist, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Strategic thinking is the process of creating plans, objectives and actions that will result in long-term results.
It is a key skill that leaders need to have in order to succeed in the ever-changing landscape of the NHS, but it is often an area that is not prioritised. In this session, we will discuss how to enhance your strategic thinking skills by questioning the status quo, challenging your own and other ideas, and encouraging different perspectives to enhance your success and efficiency in the workplace as a leader.
Research: Advancing your career through research
Sinéad Greener, Joint Workforce Development Lead and Paediatric Pharmacist, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS FT and Rachel Berry, Advanced Medicines, Optimisation Pharmacist, NENC ICB
In this session we will be discussing how research, as one of the four pillars of practice, is essential in our career development. We want to think about work we currently do with audits and quality improvement projects - are we maximising output for patient benefit, or could we expand how we do it? Research can open up opportunities in our careers and enhance job satisfaction as well as improve patient care; We will highlight opportunities for research within pharmacy and discuss how these can be accessed. Group discussion on the barriers and enablers to research will be facilitated and will help shape future regional plans in this area. Attendees will be encouraged to consider their research journey and their possible next steps.
Education: Your profession needs you! what’s stopping you becoming a DPP?
Alison Sampson, Head of Foundation School, School of Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation-North East and Yorkshire
Currently Designated Prescribing Practitioners (DPPs) from a number of professional backgrounds are required to support prescribing training for those undertaking post-graduate prescribing qualifications. In 2021 the General Pharmaceutical Council issued new standards for the initial education and training of pharmacists which require Foundation Trainee Pharmacists to be annotated as independent prescribers at the point of registration. Prescribing represents a significant change in the expectations of Foundation training which requires identification, supervision, and assessment by a suitable DPPs from 2025/26. This has increased DPP requirements to support training of prescribers.
This session will support attendees consider the role of pharmacists as Designated Prescribing Practitioners and provide some context from a wider multiprofessional workforce perspective to their current thinking.
Session Two
Clinical: Is community pharmacy clinical? Busting the myth
Kim Whitehouse, Chair, Community Pharmacy North East North
How Pharmacy First has been implemented and the focus on women’s health, e.g. UTI, Contraceptive Services, Blood pressure monitoring.
Leadership: The evolving role of pharmacy technicians – research leadership
Helen Dunn, Lead Pharmacy Technician (Clinical Trials) and Honorary Pharmacy Lead, South Tees Hospitals NHS FT/NIHR CRN
The session will cover:
- The role of pharmacy technicians in clinical trials and research and how this role has evolved
- Overview of my leadership journey and challenges faced
- Current landscape for pharmacy leadership in clinical trials and research for the North-East and North Cumbria region (NENC)
- How pharmacy technician leadership enables an effective clinical trials and research service
- Getting involved in research
Research: Pharmacy professionals in research – it could be you!
Laura Stavert, Advanced Pharmacist Practitioner, Northumberland Older Adult Community Treatment Teams, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Despite the potential for contributing to clinical research only a minority of the pharmacy workforce are currently research active. Pharmacy is an underrepresented discipline with research funders when compared with other healthcare professions such as medicine and nursing. A recent report commissioned by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England and Wales established from pharmacy professionals that a lack of support is a prominent barrier to both involvement in research and the pursuit of clinical academic pharmacy careers.
So how can we buck this trend to encourage and support more pharmacy professionals to become more research active? This session will explore the opportunities available to support pharmacy professionals to get into research through the experience of a pharmacist who has recently completed an NIHR pre-doctoral clinical academic fellowship. Learn about the opportunities available to you to turn your bright ideas into tangible research proposals and unlock your potential in research!
Education: Rapid teaching tools for workplace teaching
Dr David Thewlis, Module Leader, Newcastle University
This session will examine the common pressures associated with teaching in clinical environments and approaches which delegates can take to make their teaching more impactful for the learner and less intimidating to the educator. A world café approach will be used to identify and address the common barriers which colleagues encounter, and some simple tools will be shared which can be taken into everyday practice.
Venue information
Venue
Hilton Hotel Newcastle Gateshead, Bottle Bank, Gateshead. NE8 2AR
Arriving at the venue
Please make your way to the Gateshead Suite on the ground floor.
For further information about the conference or to discuss accessibility concerns please contact sarah.black@healthinnovationnenc.org.uk
Travelling to the venue
The hotel is located overlooking the Tyne Bridge and is less than a mile from Gateshead metro station and eight minutes from the A1 motorway. It is approximately a fifteen-minute walk from Newcastle Central Station
Event parking
There is parking onsite.
Please visit the link below for all parking options
https://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/newcastle_upon_tyne/?arriving=202205141630&leaving=202205141830
Cycling
There isn’t a dedicated cycle rack at the venue. Bikes can be secured to the railings in the underground car park. This is at your own risk. Changing facilities are available at the venue, please go to reception on arrival.
Rail and Metro
The Hotel is less than a mile from Gateshead metro station and approximately a fifteen-minute walk from Newcastle Central Station
Accommodation
For hotel suggestions please visit: https://www.newcastlegateshead.com/accommodation