Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) members are being encouraged to enter the 2015 Pharmaceutical Care Awards, which champion pharmacists’ innovative work around improving medicines use to benefit patient care.
Joint organisers the RPS and The Pharmaceutical Journal are now accepting entries from members for the 23rd annual awards, supported by GlaxoSmithKline.
The awards event acts as a showcase for leading-edge practice, and the six finalist teams defend their projects in an interactive Q&A session with
The Pharmaceutical Journal
’s executive editor. Each project is also displayed as a poster presentation for members to view at the event.
An expert panel of judges then selects the winner of the 2015 Pharmaceutical Care Award, and the audience has the chance to vote for the winner of the Audience Choice Award.
There was a record 31 entries in 2014. The winning project was a consultant pharmacist-led scheme designed to streamline the transfer of older people from acute hospital to intermediate care settings in Northern Ireland.
Speaking after last year’s awards in June 2014, Matthew Shaw, deputy director at the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education and a member of the judging panel, said: “What we saw was six different entries of people who put a lot of time and a lot of effort into really being able to think about how can pharmacists and pharmacy teams show the difference that they make to patient care, show why they’re such a key and valuable part of the multidisciplinary team. And also show that pharmacists, whatever sector of practice they’re working in, can really push themselves through at the forefront and make that real difference.”
Another finalist team described how care home residents could be better involved in decisions about their medicines in collaboration with a pharmacist independent prescriber. This was voted the project most able to be replicated in other areas, and scooped the 2014 Audience Choice Award.
Entries to the 2015 awards must show that a project completed in 2014 has improved the quality of care and patient outcomes, is sustainable and reproducible by pharmacists in other parts of Great Britain, and enhances the role of pharmacy in healthcare. The winning entries each receive a trophy to recognise their achievement.
The awards ceremony, free to members and non-members, will take place in the new RPS headquarters near Tower Bridge, London, on 18 June 2015.
Closing date for entries is 30 April 2015. Members can submit their entries to the awards and book to attend the ceremony on the RPS website.
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