Pharmacy Innovation Fellows
Revolutionising pharmaceutical care from the ground up
I propose every hospital in the NHS and wider, should have a Pharmacist Innovation Fellow whose sole role would be to advance innovation adoption and undertake research in their Trust.
When we look at other professions such as medicine there are advancements in innovation adoption and spread because people are given protected time to do so. The result has been a plethora of new initiatives being rolled out, while at the same time the effective gathering of its evidence. In my view Pharmacy can make such strides, but there are only pockets of such adoption of a role. The pharmacist innovation fellow would champion and accelerate innovative practice and interventions which would improve patient care.
Two further reasons these roles are important are:
To support the pipeline of future Chief Pharmaceutical Information Officers (similar to how there are Chief Nursing Information Officers); and
To ensure the profession is fit for the future.
Technology is flourishing and with this are changing expectations for how the future of healthcare is being shaped. A barrier to adoption is that many people who are building technology, do not understand its applications, whilst there are pharmacists who understand the application in detail, but are unable to link up with those who understand the technology.
My vision would be for Pharmacist Innovation Fellows to bridge this gap, by acting as an interface and being able to talk the language of the NHS, and who understand, at a high level, the technology.
What do you think, do you agree or disagree? Comment below!
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