Friday 25 April 2014

Opportunities to join us at the Centre for Medicines Optimisation

We've currently got two vacancies we're looking to fill.  

Application details and further post information are available from http://www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies/



Pharmaceutical Adviser (Secondary care)
 Secondment for 18 months
(Part time 7 hours per week)

This is an opportunity to join a well-established and respected team working with the NHS.  The post holder will contribute to and help develop a wide portfolio of services to support the optimal use of medicines. 

You will have experience of successful leadership of a team providing medicines optimisation advice in a secondary care setting. You will be able to provide a secondary care perspective on critical appraisals and systematic reviews, prescribing analysis, research projects and production of papers for publication.  You will also have the opportunity to contribute to both Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching within the School of Pharmacy.

You will have postgraduate qualifications, preferably to doctoral level, and be used to working at the equivalent of professorial level with colleagues both internal and external to the university.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Professor Stephen Chapman, Deputy Head of School, Head of Medicines Optimisation/Enterprise on 01782 734131, or email s.r.chapman@keele.ac.uk.

Closing date for applications: 4th May 2014
Post reference: ALC14/16



Data Analyst (Full Time)
12 month fixed term contract (to cover maternity leave)
Starting Salary: Grade 5 £20,972

You will be required to organise the collection, analysis and dissemination of prescribing data and other health related data across a number of projects and in a variety of formats, collaborating with a wide range of data and health professionals.  You will work closely with the Senior Data Analyst, Programme Lead and Medicines Evaluation scientists/pharmacists within the Centre for Medicines Optimisation, to ensure that data is provided in a timely manner to meet the needs of our customers.

Educated to A level standard or equivalent, you will be a skilled user of Microsoft Office, including advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access and VBA.  You will also be a logical thinker and effective team player with strong organisational skills.  A high level of numeracy, accuracy and attention to detail are also essential.  

Further details regarding the post can be obtained from Jo Lockett, Senior Data Analyst, on 01782 734134 or via email at j.lockett@keele.ac.uk, from 28th April 2014.


Closing date for applications: 4th May 2014
Post Reference: SE14/18


Keele is the largest UK campus University and is home to Keele’s multidisciplinary Faculty of Health that includes, as well as Pharmacy, the Schools of Medicine, Health and Rehabilitation, and Nursing & Midwifery.  We are situated rurally in North Staffordshire with easy access to the motorway network. The Peak District, Cheshire and Shropshire are all within short distances.  Newcastle-under-Lyme is one mile away and the City of Stoke-on-Trent with a main line rail service network is approximately 7 miles way.

For all vacancies at Keele University please see http://www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies/

Tuesday 8 April 2014

New Medicines Optimisation Lead: Jonathan Underhill

The Keele Centre for Medicines Optimisation within the School of Pharmacy is pleased to announce the appointment of Jonathan Underhill as Medicines Optimisation Lead. Jonathan will be working 2 days a week while continuing his role as Associate Director Medicines Evidence within the NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre. This appointment strengthens the excellent working relationship between Keele and NICE and provides an opportunity to enhance the support the Centre offers to its customers.

Jonathan is a pharmacist who has worked for over 15 years in prescribing support and was instrumental in developing the highly successful therapeutic educational programme of the former National Prescribing Centre. He said “implementing National guidance at a local level remains a huge challenge for prescribing teams within CCGs and trusts. The networks to support this have been eroded in many areas and there is a real need for high quality educational support for prescribing teams. We know from our work on evidence-informed decision making what helps implement evidence into practice, but we need to develop interventions that help people put that into practice. We found at NPC that sharing good ideas and collaborating with others is key to producing demonstrable results.

Prof Steve Chapman who is Deputy Head of the School of Pharmacy / Head of Medicines Optimisation & Enterprise said “supporting people to deliver the medicines optimisation challenges around poor adherence, medicines related hospital admissions, medication errors across primary and secondary care and in care homes, as well as the level of medicines waste is a key objective of the Centre. Jonathan and I have a shared vision around how we can help prescribing teams meet these challenges and deliver the care that their patients deserve. We will review our business plan in consultation with our stakeholders to ensure the service we offer meets their needs and is scalable nationally and globally.”

Dr Paul Chrisp, Programme Director at the NICE Medicines and Prescribing Centre said “I am delighted to support Jonathan’s academic placement at Keele. This gives NICE and Keele an excellent opportunity to collaborate on our shared goals around Medicines Optimisation and implementation of best practice.


About the Keele Centre for Medicines Optimisation
Keele Centre for Medicines Optimisation is a not-for-profit organisation based at Keele University in the School of Pharmacy, providing tailored, cost-effective, prescribing support solutions to the NHS.
With nearly 20 years experience in delivering medicines management solutions and optimising medicines use, our services include:
Working with GPs, commissioners and local medicines management teams, we offer a wide range of medicines management services, from user-friendly, affordable, prescribing summaries for an individual practice right through to a comprehensive service, providing comparative prescribing data and action planning for a cluster of healthcare providers.

"Our aim is to encourage high-quality, evidence-based prescribing, to achieve the best care for patients. We pride ourselves on providing a responsive service that reflects current, key policy drivers, such as QIPP."

We work alongside GPs, CCGs,and hospital trusts and believe that outsourcing prescribing support activities to Keele offers healthcare providers a practical, cost-effective and, importantly, flexible option, as medicines management services are reconfigured.
Examples of our work are available on this site (take a look at the "Open Access Materials" area) and we'd also recommend reading the feedback from our existing customers