Develop skills, expertise and network to help expand research capacity in BCUHB and drive an evidence based approach to practice development, locally and nationally

End of project summary

The application for this Clinical Research Time Award was structured around five key objectives: 

1. Establish a research network in practice 
2. Plan and undertake a qualitative research project exploring opportunities for service development, including role substitution  
3. Develop an understanding of the application of clinical trials research methods to tackling service design in respect of role substitution 
4. Develop application to a major funder in respect of role substitution 
5. Mentor and support pharmacy colleagues with research activities and embedding these into their practice  

Through delivering on these objectives, the aim was to develop the award holder’s professional network, and their skills and expertise, to support robust research approaches to developing the evidence base for new and expanding roles within pharmacy across primary care and the community.  

A number of activities were completed as part of the award-funded time. The most substantial of these was the completion of a review of pharmacy services in primary care and the community in north Wales, exploring the current position, and the potential for further development. 

In addition to the review, the following were undertaken, which as well as directly involving research and its dissemination in many cases, were also intended to build the profile of the award holder and develop a research network to facilitate development of research teams for future projects.  

• Supporting the development and implementation of a Community of Scholars in north Wales, to support networking between researches engaged clinical staff with academic colleagues.  
• Appearing as an expert on a range of podcasts produced by the Community of Scholars 
• Collaboration with colleagues in Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool University to seek PhD funding around supporting shared decision making with respect to cardiovascular medication prescribing – this has currently been submitted to two funding rounds, but funding has not yet been secured 
• An observational paper on the discharge medicines service in England, resulting in a paper, co-authored with colleagues from Keele University and the Company Chemist’s Association, and submitted to the Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research – currently on second round of review 
• Peer-reviewed paper on practice changes made to support patients to access the right care, first time, during the Jubilee Bank Holiday, authored with colleagues from NHS 111 and published in Family Medicine
• Supporting colleagues with the organisation of a local research conference to allow MPharm and postgraduate diploma students to present their work 

Alongside undertaking research activities, the awardee used their expertise to mentor and supervise others to help foster the development of research skills within the department and wider profession of pharmacy. Through the award, this included supervision and support of six MPharm project students studying at Keele and Cardiff Universities, and of a DPharm student studying at Keele University. Also, the awardee has mentored five colleagues in developing research projects for their masters and doctoral degrees, including supporting them with identifying a research question, selecting appropriate research methods, tackling analysis of data, and reporting their findings.  

Part of the original proposal was to complete some training in clinical trials methods, so these could be applied to the real-world problems in practice around widening and deepening of roles, and role substitution. Unfortunately, the clinical trial modules did not run as planned and, in part owing to the disruption of COVID-19, it was not possible to complete this element of the award. However, multiple discussions were held with the team at  North Wales Organisation for Randomised Trials in Health & Social Care in an attempt to develop robust studies relevant to recent and planned changes in practice, but after multiple failed efforts to develop trial designs, it became evident that the nature of the work, and the rapid rate of development in community pharmacy and primary care pharmacy (largely driven by intense demand and workforce shortages) meant it was not possible to align the timescale of gaining funding for, and completing, robust trails with the realities of the pressure on the service and the necessary pace of change. As such, no applications were ultimately submitted and different approaches have been adopted to understanding and developing the evidence base to underpin the work being done.