The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 267 No 7170 p580
20 October 2001

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The work of the Practice Research Division is explained by Dr Sue Ambler (head) and Zoe Whittington (research manager)

Programmes of research

Research consortium

Practice research awards

Links with Council and staff

External liaison

Pharmacy Practice Research Trust

A focus for developing practice research

The Practice Research Division was established in 1995 to provide a focus for the development of health services research in pharmacy. The Society’s Council wished to reflect the growing importance of research in informing the development of policy and the implementation of health services in its own structures. The division was trusted with taking forward the Society’s practice research strategy, which was agreed in 1994.

The division has three distinct functions:

1. Managing the Society’s programme of research

2. Ensuring that the Society’s Council and senior staff are aware of, and take account of, relevant research findings in the development and implementation of policy

3. Developing the profile of and capabilities in pharmacy practice research

The division is staffed by Dr Sue Ambler (head), Zoe Whittington (research manager), Kerry Crabb (personal assistant to Dr Ambler) and Jackie Moon (divisional secretary).

Programmes of research

The Society funds practice research in two distinct ways — commissioned programmes and responsive funding for projects.

The focus of investment in commissioned work to date has been on the evaluation of innovation in pharmacy services and the underpinning exploratory research. Society funding has been used to attract additional funding from outside bodies, such as the Department of Health and the Community Pharmacy Research Consortium (see below). Between 1995 and 2000, a total of £604,000 was invested in research, with the Society contributing just over a third.

Earlier this year, the division developed a strategy for the Society’s future investment in research following a review of policy papers, including work from the Society’s Futures Group and the Department of Trade and Industry Foresight programme. This strategy recommended commissioning research on work-force, education and ethics, developing collaborative links with other bodies to take forward work relating to the Society’s professional functions (for example, in hospital and primary care pharmacy) and greater integration of research and development into the general work of the Society.

The Council approved this strategy in June (PJ, 16 June, p806), and progress has been made in commissioning research to address the areas of workforce, education and ethics. In relation to workforce research, Dr Karen Hassell (University of Manchester) is currently conducting a scoping exercise to identify the needs of the different operational divisions within the Society for workforce data. Professor Alison Blenkinsopp (University of Keele) and Professor Jennifer Tann (University of Birmingham) have been commissioned to look at innovation in pharmacy through the exploration of case studies that will identify the characteristics of innovators, innovations and the process by which innovation happens. The division recently issued a call for proposals (PJ, 1 September, p307) in relation to the ethics research agenda and is looking for university departments to host a PhD to explore core values and professional ethics in pharmacy.

Research consortium

Since 1996, the Society has worked with the other community pharmacy bodies (National Pharmaceutical Association, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, Company Chemists Association and Scottish Pharmaceutical General Council) to develop, through co-operation and investment, a strong research base to inform community pharmacy policy and practice. The Community Pharmacy Research Consortium has funded a number of research projects, including “The public’s use of community pharmacy as a health care resource” and “Care at the chemist: A question of access”, and has recently commissioned research from the University of Aberdeen as part of the service delivery and organisation of community pharmacy research programme.

Further information on the consortium is available in its annual report, which is accessible on the practice research area of the Society’s website (www.rpsgb.org.uk).

Practice research awards

The division also administers the Society’s two practice research awards, the Galen Award and the Sir Hugh Linstead Fellowship, on behalf of the Council. These awards are advertised annually and are funded from a bequest to the Society and by the Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust respectively. The division arranges the call for proposals, oversees the peer review and short-listing process and manages the grants on a day-to-day basis. The practice research awards panel is chaired by Council member Professor Michael Schofield. Following the panel’s meeting in August 2001, four research proposals have been awarded funding.

Links with Council and staff

The Practice Research Division provides input to documents and speeches, provide research information and advice to working groups, as well as work with other divisions to commission research — for example, the recent review of the evidence relating to pharmacy involvement in health development with the Pharmacy Healthcare Scheme and Practice Division.

External liaison

The Practice Research Division led the Society’s work in relation to the report of the Pharmacy Practice R&D Task Force (1997) and the report of the Getting Research into Pharmacy Practice Working Group (GRIPP, 1999).

The division provides ad hoc input to consultations by the Medical Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council and the National Health Service. It provides support for a number of NHS groups and has conducted reviews on behalf of the NHS. Staff in the division also provide peer review support for the Department of Health, the NHS and other bodies by reviewing project proposals and research reports and reviewing manuscripts for journals and conference abstracts. Sue Ambler is a member of a number of committees including, the Health Services Research & Pharmacy Practice Conference Committee, Health Services Research Journal editorial board, NHS Workforce Capacity Implementation Group and the primary care research team Assessment committee of the Royal College of General Practitioners. The Division is also in regular contact with the chairs of university pharmacy practice departments and research groups.

Pharmacy Practice Research Trust

In 1999 the Society’s Council established an independent research charity, the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust, with a broad remit to promote and develop research relating to the practice of pharmacy. Sue Ambler is the trust’s director and Kerry Crabb is the fundraising and development officer. The board of trustees is chaired by Sir Graham Hart and the research and development committee by Dr Robert Maxwell. The trust’s research programme, “Medicines and people”, will tackle the broad agenda relating to medicines use. The trust will:

· Fund research relating to the place of medicines in society and the practice pharmacy

· Stimulate debate and spreading knowledge about medicines and the people who use and take them

· Develop a new generation of academic leaders who can lead the debate and inform thinking, particularly within pharmacy.