Clinical and professional practice
Pharmacists have two key functions which serve the public - ensuring best use of medicines and supporting improvements in health. Our research encompasses both these functions by exploring the impact of using medicines, ways of enhancing medicines use and of improving public health, with a focus on cardiovascular and related diseases, mental health and neurological conditions. We underpin this by providing and evaluating the educational and other support needed by current and future practising pharmacists.
Optimisation
Medicines optimisation is described as "the process by which healthcare professionals engage with individual patients to understand their views, opinions and beliefs, to share their clinical and medicines knowledge so that the most appropriate evidence-based care for each individual can be agreed and, where appropriate, to communicate this with other healthcare professionals." It seeks to ensure the safety of patients in relation to medicines and to utilise patients' perspectives in the practice of pharmacy. A variety of services provided by pharmacists support medicines optimisation, such as medicines reconciliation, Medicines Use Reviews, the New Medicines Service and pharmaceutical care.
