‘Appropriate Prescribing’ and Antimicrobial Stewardship will be two of the key themes at a conference for non-medical healthcare professionals in the north-east who have prescribing responsibilities.
Nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals are invited to register to attend the sixth Non-Medical Prescribing Conference on Tuesday, September 22.
Funded by NHS Grampian and facilitated in collaboration with Robert Gordon University (RGU), the free conference will provide learning and networking opportunities for all non-medical prescribers within Grampian.
The event, 'Managing the opportunities and Challenges of Non-Medical Prescribing,' will be held in RGU’s Faculty of Health and Social Care from 9.30am to 4pm at the university’s Garthdee campus.
The conference, which will be opened by Adult Nursing lecturer Rachel Unwin, will offer Continuous Professional Development opportunities for non-medical prescribers in NHS Grampian. Delegates will also attend a series of presentations and workshops delivered by experts from academic and clinical backgrounds.
Linda Harper, associate senior lecturer at RGU and lead for non-medical prescribing at NHS Grampian, has worked with the conference committee to organise an event which meets the needs of the healthcare community.
She said: “The conference has been successful for a number of years and offers a good opportunity for non-medical prescribers to share experiences and best practice with each other.
“Our keynote speakers will be of great interest to practitioners across the north-east who will also benefit from the range of workshop options we have booked for the event.”
Dr Graeme Currie, Consultant Chest Physician at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, will deliver the morning keynote address: ‘Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - an overview.’
Dr Clare Bostock from the the NHS Grampian Medication Safety Committee will discuss appropriate prescribing during her afternoon keynote address.
Between presentations, delegates will attend a morning and afternoon workshop selected from a choice of six on offer:
- Controlled Drugs Workshop
- Pain management in Palliative Care
- Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Assessment - back to basics. Specialist Pharmacist Legal and Ethical Issues of Prescribing
- Tissue Viability Nurse Specialist Wound Management
- Oncology and Uro-Oncology Workshop
Gillian Macartney, a Specialist Antimicrobial Pharmacist in Grampian, will also present to conference after the workshops. She will address the latest changes to antimicrobial guidelines in NHS Grampian, national initiatives and the educational packages which are available through NHS Education for Scotland.
The extension of prescribing responsibilities to non-medical healthcare professionals first became available to community nurses in 1998.
Nurse prescribing in the UK is now well established with evidence of improvements in access, patient safety and patient-centred care which continues to strengthen the success of this practice.
Non-Medical Prescribing aims to:
- Improve the quality of service to patients
- Make it easier for them to get the medicines they need
- Make better use of the skills of health professionals
- Contribute to the introduction of more flexible team-working across the NHS
For more information and to register for the conference please visit: www.rgu.ac.uk/events/non-medical-prescribing-conference-2015