About Dr Keith Holden
My background is in clinical pharmacy. After completing a PhD in Vascular Pharmacology, I registered as a pharmacist and worked in a number of settings including the Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre as a drug use review pharmacist, various acute trusts as a clinical pharmacist, and as a practice-based clinical pharmacist.
In 1997 I was appointed as Lead Pharmacist for the Durham and Tees Pharmacy Practice Unit before moving to County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust as Principal Clinical Pharmacist.
My clinical practice was predominantly in care of the elderly with a specialist interest in falls and syncope where I ran one of the country's only non-medical-led 'Falls and Syncope' clinics. I utilised non-medical prescribing skills in order to assess, treat, manage, and refer patients presenting with a history of falls, taking referrals from both secondary care colleagues and from primary care.
Teaching and supervision
I'm the Programme Leader for postgraduate pharmacy courses and continuing professional development.
My main areas of teaching are focused on clinical therapeutics with particular emphasis on preparing students for their role as independent prescribers. At present, pharmacists who meet a set of minimum requirements are allowed to sit a qualifying course that allows annotation of their registration details; the University offers this course, which I currently lead.
I also input into other postgraduate pharmacy courses, including the MSc Clinical Pharmacy, and I teach on the (MPharm) Pharmacy course.