Project Name: Provision of Pharmacist to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Service at The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Project Summary:
The aim of this Collaborative Working Project (CWP) is to recruit one full time equivalent (FTE) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Pharmacist to support the Trust MS service with management, review, and follow up of MS patients.
This resource will help address staff shortages and backlog of patients currently being experienced by the Trust all of which contributes to the delay in time from treatment decision for MS patients to treatment initiation.
Integrating the MS Pharmacist into all aspects of the MS service, this CWP aims to:
- provide triaging and screening resource to review referrals and provide recommendations at multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings;
- improve patient outcomes and experience by reducing time between referral, diagnosis, and treatment, and increasing awareness of the MS pathway.
- empowering MS patients in the care of the Royal Free Hospital;
- supporting the pharmacist team with management of patient databases
Planned Milestones:
| Milestone Description | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Project kick off meeting. |
| 2 | Recruitment of pharmacist. Baseline measurements submitted. |
| 3 | 3-month data collection. |
| 4 | 6-month data collection. |
| 5 | 9-month data collection. |
| 6 | 12-month data collection. |
| 7 | 15-month data collection. |
| 8 | 18-month data collection. |
| 9 | Submission of business case. Final project report and outcomes summary completed. |
Expected Benefits:
Anticipated benefits to patients:
- Improved patient outcomes due to faster time from referral to treatment time;
- Improved access to NICE recommended therapy;
- Enhanced patient experience of the NHS MS service by reducing unnecessary waiting times.
Anticipated benefits to the organisation:
- Improved quality of care;
- Reduction in patient waiting lists;
- Improved MDT efficiency and outcomes;
- Improved experience of staff by spreading workload
- Increase in Clinical Nurse Specialist appointment activity.
- Increase in Pharmacist activity
Anticipated benefits to Novartis;
- Learnings relating to the involvement of MS Pharmacists at MDTs;
- Better understanding of overall customers’ and patients’ needs;
- Optimal use of medicines (including Novartis medicines) in appropriate patients.
Start Date & Duration: February 2024 for 22 months
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