UCLH
A partnership between University College Hospital (UCLH) and University College London (UCL) aims to transform patient care around the world by making medicines safer and easier to take.
The pharmacy department at UCLH and the school of Pharmacy at UCL have established the Centre for Medicines Optimisation Research and Education (CMORE) to combine experience and expertise in effective use of medicines, medicine safety and pharmaceutical science.
Dr Yogini Jani, director at CMORE’s and consultant pharmacist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, says: “CMORE will bring together academic and clinical pharmacy leaders to research and improve our understanding and use of medicines for greater patient benefit.”
Medicines are fundamental to effective modern healthcare and new medicines have transformed the treatment of many conditions, but they can sometimes lead to patient harm as a result of adverse effects, error, inappropriate use or failure to take as prescribed, he added.
With this in mind, CMORE will not search for new medicines but focus on making the best use of those already in use. This will include looking for ways of making medicines easier for children and the elderly to take, as well as identifying and understanding the reasons why medication error and harm may occur and then finding ways to improve.
The centre, launched on 3 May 2017, will also offer placements to students from UCL School of Pharmacy and opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate research and quality improvement projects. Research findings will be shared via presentations at international conferences and through publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Professor Marcel Levi, chief executive at UCLH, says, “Medicines have a central role in modern healthcare but their efficacy and safety depend on meticulous knowledge regarding their properties, potential interactions and right dosing.
“Optimisation of prescribing systems, methods for safe administration and teaching and training healthcare professionals how to work with medicines are of utmost importance. It is essential we do everything we can to ensure medicines are used safely and optimally.”
