Pharmacy Professionals Incubator
A new initiative that aims to harness the expertise and experience of pharmacists in healthcare research has been announced at the University of Leicester.
The University will host the Pharmacy Professionals Incubator, funded with £120,000 from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Professor Debi Bhattacharya from the University of Leicester School of Healthcare will lead the new Pharmacy Professionals Incubator, a collaboration of nine Universities across the UK, several hospitals and community pharmacies working with patients and members of the public.
Professor Bhattacharya said: “Pharmacy is the third largest health profession in the UK and pharmacists are the experts in medicines. However, they are awarded only a tiny fraction of NHS research funding. Given that medicines are the cornerstone of health treatment, we are delighted that the NIHR has awarded three years of funding to boost research within the pharmacy profession.
“Our incubator team comprising members of the public, researchers, research funders, practitioners and employers will be working with a wide range of stakeholders to design new ways to support pharmacy professionals to do research, and implement those across the UK.”
Research is a core part of NHS business to improve patient health outcomes and advance pharmacy professional roles, and despite pharmacy being the third largest healthcare profession, they are largely underrepresented in health services research. The Department of Health and Social Care’s Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery: 2022 to 2025 implementation plan outlines how allied health professionals should be supported to develop a sustainable research-active workforce. The aim is to develop a UK-wide strategy to help support and increase research engagement within the pharmacy profession.
Focus groups will be held to understand the barriers and enablers to pharmacy professionals engaging with research and will be open to all registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (excluding locum professionals) at all levels of research, including those that aren’t currently research active. The focus groups will be held on the following evenings, and will last approximately 90 minutes;
Community: Tues 24th September 7pm-8.30pm
Primary Care: Wed 25th September 7pm-8.30pm
Hospital: Wed 2nd October 7pm-8.30pm
Academia: Thurs 3rd October 7pm-8.30pm
Participants will receive a £50 voucher for their time. The following link will allow those interested to fill out an expression of interest should they want to participate.
The link for the Expression of Interest form can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/Dy5B9jbD9T
Please also see the flyer here.
A national survey will take place following results of the focus groups. Please follow @Pharmres_profs on X to keep up to date with the work being done.
