Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 9 No 8 p232-233
September 2002

A spoonful of sugar: Recipes for risk reduction

Conference preview  |  Exhibition  |  Conference essentials

Three of the speakers at this year’s Hospital Pharmacist conference: (from top to bottom), Damian Child, Paula Hayes and James Robertson

Since its publication at the end of 2001, "A spoonful of sugar" has rarely been out of the news, and not only in the pharmaceutical world. Essentially, the report centres around good medicines management, a subject visited by Hospital Pharmacist at last year's conference. "A spoonful of sugar" also throws down the gauntlet with its strategic challenges, one of which is to introduce processes to reduce risk and the number of medication errors. This is old news to many hospital pharmacists working in centres of excellence around the UK, and Hospital Pharmacist is bringing some of them together for its annual one-day conference showing how their work is contributing to risk management.

The venue is the headquarters of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in London and it is open to pharmacists and other health care professionals.

The Hospital Pharmacist conference, sponsored by AAH Hospital Service, will feature:

• A keynote address by Professor David Cousins, senior pharmacist, National Patient Safety Agency

• Sessions on risk management encompassing the theory of why medication errors occur to the practical measures to consider and their implementation. Further details can be found here (PDF* 40K).

• A chance for delegates to put their questions to an expert panel made up of the day's speakers

• An exhibition which conference participants will have time to visit throughout the day

The meeting is accredited by the College of Pharmacy Practice (providing five hours of postgraduate education to the college's continuing education requirements)

A pre-conference dinner has been arranged, in association with Faulding Pharmaceuticals. The dinner, to which all delegates are invited, will take place in the Society's Council dining room on Wednesday, 30 October. (Included in registration fee — see booking form (PDF* 40K) for details)

The exhibition

The exhibition will take place next to the conference hall. As well as stands and displays, the participating companies will have representatives available during the day to give information about their products, the market in general, and new developments.

Refreshments and lunch will be served in the exhibition area, allowing conference delegates ample opportunity to view the stands.

Companies exhibiting include:

First DataBank Europe Limited First DataBank Europe is the UK market leader in the provision of point-of-care knowledge bases to all sectors of the healthcare industry. The Multilex Drug Data File, the UK's most widely used drug database, provides many of the interactive computer decision support rules required for safer and more efficient prescribing and dispensing. Multilex provides the opportunity for successfully achieving EPR Level 4.

Fresenius Kabi Limited Fresenius Kabi continuously strives to develop its specialist skills in the fields of nutrition and infusion therapy. In doing so it provides the customer with innovative solutions to meet the highest standards of patient care. As a leading supplier of special sterile solutions, Fresenius Kabi realises that sometimes people have different requirements so when a licenced solution does not meet customer's needs our Specials Service can provide one that does.

IDIS World Medicines IDIS has over 15 years of experience in supplying pharmacists with medicines on a named-patient basis, product discontinuation solutions and unique medicines for patients who require specialised treatment. IDIS have also established themselves as leading providers of online College of Pharmacy Practice accredited training with their Pharmacist Education Programme (PEP).

Hospital PEP includes training modules on clinical governance, managing risk, medicines management and seamless care, four of the strategic challenges outlined in the Audit Commission's "A spoonful of sugar" report.

Misys Healthcare Systems International Misys Healthcare Systems, a division of Misys plc, is one of the world's largest independent applications software products companies which designs, develops and supports a comprehensive suite of clinical information products.

At the Hospital Pharmacist exhibition, the company will feature Misys Insight a powerful, proven clinical decision support system which integrates data from HIS and a broad spectrum of clinical information systems.

Pharmacia Limited Pharmacia is a global pharmaceutical company employing almost 60,000 people world-wide. The UK sales and marketing activities are based in Milton Keynes and the company features in the UK's "Top Ten Pharmaceutical Companies" list. Pharmacia manufactures a range of hospital and prescription products.

Sanofi Synthelabo Sanofi Synthelabo is a global healthcare organisation employing more than 30,000 people around the world. The UK Head Office is based at Guildford with pharmaceutical manufacturing and research in the north-east. Sanofi Synthelabo have nearly 50 potential new medicines in development and key therapeutic areas are thrombosis, cardiovascular, internal medicine, central nervous system and oncology.

Surgichem Limited Surgichem Limited was established in 1989 by a community pharmacist as a means to supply a new medication system to the pharmacy and care home markets. The Nomad Community Dosage System (CDS) is a medication administration system designed to assist patients/end-users with medication compliance.

Other companies exhibiting include: Durbin Plc, Faulding Pharmaceuticals plc, Medacs Limited and Syner-Med.

Conference essentials

How to book Use the registration form in the display advertisement opposite page 234 or contact Lyn McCulloch at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society by telephone (020 7572 2414), fax (020 7572 2504) or e-mail (lyn.mcculloch@pharmj.org.uk).

Closing date for registration: 24 October 2002.

Registration fees  £90 + VAT (total £105.75) for members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and £120 + VAT (total £141.00) for non-members. All major credit cards accepted. Registration fees include refreshments and lunch on 31 October and the pre-conference dinner, hosted by Faulding Pharmaceuticals, on 30 October, as indicated in the programme.

Registration From 9.30am on 31 October on the Ground Floor, 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7JN.

Accommodation Special rates for overnight accommodation have been arranged for delegates who may wish to stay in Central London on 30 and 31 October. Rates are subject to availability at the time of booking. Please telephone directly to make a reservation, asking for the "Royal Pharmaceutical Society rate" — the details are as follows:

Novotel Waterloo Tel: 020 7793 1010

Days Inn Waterloo Tel: 0800 0280400

  * PDF files on PJ Online require Acrobat Reader 4 or later.