UWE Bristol and Bedminster Pharmacy announce new Regional Innovation Fund project: Developing Evidence-Based Approaches to Promote Effective Antimicrobial Stewardship at Community Pharmacy Level
UWE Bristol with Bedminster Pharmacy have been successful in securing grant funding from Research England’s Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) to form a new 4-month project.
Bedminster Pharmacy is an NHS multi-award-winning independent pharmacy in Bedminster, Bristol. They provide a complete range of NHS and non-NHS services to the local community.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing problem, and the outlook is alarming. Antibiotic use and inappropriate prescribing are drivers of AMR. With the added responsibility to increase prescribing at community pharmacy, this project will provide an evidence-based approach and the support to deliver effective antimicrobial stewardship (AMS).
The innovation in question revolves around the development of an evidence-based approach for AMS that aims to revolutionise the traditional methods of service evaluation and development. The project is designed to overcome the limitations of conventional audits and customer feedback, offering a nuanced and data driven perspective.
This funding will provide the opportunity for the Bedminster Pharmacy to carry out a much needed and very timely evaluation of its antibiotic prescribing and stewardship practices, and to gain better insight about knowledge of antibiotics among their patients and their health seeking behaviour.
‘‘The emerging role of Community Pharmacy offering timely accessible clinical interventions, including prescribing antibiotics, will undoubtedly help address the increasing demands on the NHS; it is also an exciting opportunity to embed evidence-based AMS principles and practice. Aligning these opportunities effectively is an important challenge to address, and I am grateful for this project. ’’- (Mr Ade Williams, Superintendent Pharmacist, Bedminster Pharmacy).
Dr Emmanuel Adukwu, a principal investigator and project leader at the Centre for Research in Biosciences (CRIB), will be leading on this project. He has extensive experience working on antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial agents and infection prevention and control.
Obiageli Okolie will be joining the project as an Associate. She is a post-doctoral researcher at UWE Bristol, with experience of conducting research in public health. She has subject knowledge of antimicrobial resistance and expertise in developing antimicrobial stewardship toolkits as part of her doctoral research.
“We are very excited working with the UWE to improve our pharmacy practice and combat antimicrobial resistance together.” said Mr Ade William MBE (Superintendent Pharmacist; Bedminster Pharmacy Bristol).
“I am very impressed by the wealth of knowledge and experience brought by the UWE team. I am confident that they will provide an evidence-based solution to improve pharmacists’ knowledge and practice in the area [antimicrobial resistance].”, said Dr Vincent Cheng (Community pharmacist; Lecturer in Evidence Synthesis in University of Bristol).
The Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) is a program designed to support universities in developing innovative projects that have the potential to positively impact their local communities or regions. These funds are allocated by regional or national governments to encourage research, development and collaboration between universities and local industries to spur economic growth and innovation.