The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7256 p15
5 July 2003

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Pharmacists can improve health outcomes

The winners of the Pharmaceutical Care Awards 2002 were presented with their awards at a dinner held at the Savoy Hotel in London on 27 June. The awards, organised by The Journal and sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, were presented by Professor Martin Kendall. Finalists presented their work at a conference held in the afternoon before the dinner

Patient-centred services featured in many of the entries for the Pharmaceutical Care Awards this year, and patient-centred care will inevitably impact on pharmacists, JOHN LEPORE, vice-president of GlaxoSmithKline UK, told guests at the awards dinner.

Before the dinner, Mr Lepore had attended the National Health Service confederation conference in Glasgow, where this model of care was a recurring theme, he explained.

"The possibilities embedded in proposals concerning supplementary prescribing and the new pharmacy contract could position pharmacists to improve health outcomes through active disease management of conditions such as diabetes and hypertension," he added.

Having moved to the United Kingdom from Singapore two months ago, Mr Lepore said that he had spent a great deal of time in his new role trying to understand the NHS. And although this was no easy task, he found that the one constant amid all the changes being made is a commitment to improving patient access to quality health care.

Mr Lepore went on to highlight how GSK was already engaging in medicines management initiatives, in partnership with pharmacists, as part of the GSK+plus programme. Disease areas that the GSK programme is currently involved in include diabetes, asthma and smoking cessation.