University of Sunderland

Pharmacy practice and policy

Research in pharmacy practice is in a developmental phase. No pharmacy practice staff were submissible in RAE 2001. Restructuring of the group in 2005 and the appointment of new staff has stimulated research activity and publications. A Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Policy was appointed in September 2005, and appointment of research active staff since then has further strengthened the group, as will the appointment of a pharmacist active in pharmacogenetics research in the community, who joins us just after the census date. Drawing on the underpinning knowledge base in the pharmaceutical sciences, and linking with colleagues in other research teams where appropriate, the Pharmacy Practice and Policy group's research focuses on the clinical use of medicines in health care and in society more widely, and in the development and evaluation of pharmaceutical services.

The group is working to a 5-year strategy in three broad phases: first (1-2 years) to engage in 'opportunistic' research with local NHS organisations and pharmacy groups; second (2-3 years) to engage with pharmaceutical industry and corporate pharmacy organisations in more substantive projects; and third, in the longer term (3-5 years) to achieve a position where credible bids can be made to national funding bodies. The group has had some early success, evident in its growing profile in the British Pharmaceutical Conference practice research sessions.  However, although the practice research infrastructure and output has significantly expanded, the group remains at a developmental stage and very much still in the early phase of the strategy.

The group has yet to be successful in attracting substantive external research funding. Small amounts of direct support have been made available internally to individuals for the purpose of conference attendance. Research activity within the group has grown largely through self funding, small projects and through soft funding from NHS and industry organisations aligned to the strategy. Funding has been secured from the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) to support development of innovative teaching, particularly interprofessional learning for medical, pharmacy and nursing students. This is work in progress and evaluation and publications will follow. Grants have been attracted from pharmaceutical companies to support conference attendance for members of the group and purchase of equipment.

The practice research model is collaborative and seeks to develop partnerships with NHS, industry and academic colleagues. Relationships are developed through personal and professional contacts and work with collaborating departments, e.g., through PhD supervision and examining. Members of the group have strong and developing links with local primary care trusts and hospital trusts, in particular, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, whose director of pharmacy has recently been appointed visiting professor and is a member of the research group. Members also have strong links with the Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, major pharmaceutical companies, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and Department of Health.

Research submitted in the pharmacy policy and practice group is centred in areas of pharmacy practice that are important to NHS organisations and practitioners in the region, drawing on the strengths of the academic staff, and wherever possible convergent with our taught programmes, especially at Masters Level.

In the area of long term medical conditions investigations have taken place into services provided by community pharmacists for people with type 2 diabetes and patients' satisfaction with those services. Studies have also been carried out with regard to various aspects of the problem of non-compliance, including the use of compliance aids. Investigations have also taken place into the management of adult hypertension, showing significant improvement following implementation of a care pathway based on NICE guidance, which was subsequently implemented across the PCT; and the publication of one of the first reviews of a new group of drugs, the anti-TNF agents, in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); these drugs now have a major role in the management of severe RA.  Reviews on Alzheimer's disease, other dementias and glaucoma have also been published.. The group will continue to develop its interest in long term conditions, implementation and outcomes of medication reviews in primary care, with considerable potential for synergy within the group.

Much of this research has been influential within partner organisations, helping promote changes in practice. The group will continue to pursue these research themes, wherever possible building on these mainly small studies to mount more substantive programmes of research.