NPS
Member Update
13 May 2008
In this issue
1. National Medicines Symposium
2. National QUM Awards 2008
3. Asia-Pacific International Scholarship
4. NPS Facilitators' Forum
5. Common Colds campaign 2008
6. PPR 41: Getting to the heart of the matter
7. QUM fellowship awarded
8. Website re-launch
9. International Communicators award
10. Conference update
11. GP and Pharmacist survey
12. AME line brochure
1. National Medicines Symposium
As you read this, NMS is underway in the nation's capital with around 500
delegates from across the country and around the world debating and discussing
QUM. If you are in Canberra you may be able to pop in to the National
Convention Centre and take advantage of a day registration to hear some of the
world's experts on QUM present new ideas and address burning issues. The
program is available on the NPS website www.nps.org.au <http://www.nps.org.au/>
There will be a number of highlights in the program, including a debate on
Friday May 16 on Health Policy: helping or hindering QUM. The White Paper on
this topic will be delivered by Professor Rachel Elliott from the University of
Nottingham. Following her presentation the topic will be the subject of a panel
discussion that includes: Dr Janette Randall (NPS), Mitch Messer (CHF), Dr John
Gullotta AM (AMA), Dr Karen Peachey (PSA Queensland), Dr Ruth Lopert (DoHA) and
Professor Elliott. The panel will be facilitated by Rhonda Galbally AO, CEO of
Our Community, who should ensure a lively debate.
2. National QUM Awards 2008
Senator the Hon Jan McLucas, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health
and Ageing, has agreed to present the National QUM Awards 2008 at the NMS 2008
dinner on Thursday 15 May. Geraldine Doogue, who was involved with the recent
2020 Summit and will have some interesting perspectives on it, is the MC.
Entries reflected the diversity of QUM initiatives in Australia and this, plus
the high quality of entries meant the judges had their work cut out for them.
Nevertheless, they identified and have awarded a number of entries.
We thank the judges who have decided the Health Professional, Health
Organisation, Media and Student categories of the Awards.
The NMS 2008 Poster Award will be judged on the day, which is quite an effort.
Thanks go in advance to the judges on that panel.
3. Asia Pacific International Scholarship
The winner of the NMS 2008 International Scholarship is Mr Surulivel Rajan
Mallayasamy, of India. Rajan is Senior Lecturer in Pharmaceutical Sciences at
Manipal College, in the State of Karnataka. We hope to arrange some relevant
meetings for Rajan while he is in Australia, and will introduce him to as many
people as possible at NMS.
Rajan actively contributes to rational drug use in India by providing unbiased
independent drug information to prescribers and nurses, assisting them to
choose drugs based on best possible evidence, reporting adverse drug reactions,
and through patient counselling. He also is involved in publishing newsletters
on drugs and therapeutics and is Assistant Editor of the Indian Journal of
Hospital Pharmacy, the official publication of the Indian Hospital Pharmacists'
Association. In addition Rajan is a member of Health Action International -
Asia Pacific.
Rajan will speak about his work at NMS on Friday 16 May as part of Concurrent
session 12.
4. NPS Facilitators' Forum
As this issue of Member Update is distributed, 118 NPS facilitators are
gathering in Canberra for the annual Facilitators' Forum. The meaty program
will include plenary presentations on Navigating for Successful Outcomes and
Influencing Others Whilst Maintaining Your Balance. Five concurrent workshops
are also on offer, with topics ranging from developing relationships with
media, enhancing delivery of key messages, and writing abstracts and developing
posters, to presenting the evidence and interpreting clinical
information. But it's not all hard work. In keeping with the
overall Forum theme of 'Leading the QUM challenge: integrity, balance and
excellence', the Forum dinner features the premise of 'A Touch of Gold'.
Outcomes of the Forum will be reported in a coming issue of Member Update.
5. Common Colds campaign 2008
A reminder that the annual NPS Common colds need common sense, not antibiotics
health campaign will launch soon.
This year's campaign will run in two phases. Phase 1 will launch in late May
and focus on hygiene messages, while phase 2 will launch in August and focus on
antibiotics messages (August is a peak month for antibiotic prescriptions). NPS
is currently updating recommendations for over-the-counter medicines and
complementary medicines.
Remember to keep watch for the 2008 Common colds need common sense, not
antibiotics website, which will launch soon.
6. PPR 41: Getting to the heart of the matter
The May 2008 issue of Prescribing Practice Review (PPR 41) focuses on
'Improving outcomes in chronic heart failure'. Heart failure is a clinical
syndrome of limited cardiac output and/or fluid congestion. Chronic heart
failure is usually progressive, but with appropriate diagnosis and treatment
the symptoms and prognosis are markedly improved.
Key messages revolve around identifying high-risk heart failure patients,
ordering of echocardiograms, appropriate drug therapies and use of a heart
failure action plan to discuss fluid balance, medication adherence and
lifestyle changes.
This issue of PPR also includes a clinical audit: Management of systolic
chronic heart failure (enrolment is open until 13 June via the NPS website) and
a patient information leaflet from the Heart Foundation titled Living well with
chronic heart failure.
These NPS materials form part of a joint program with the National Heart
Foundation of Australia and the National Institute of Clinical Studies to
improve the management of heart failure.
7.
QUM fellowship awarded
Victorian Pharmacy Lecturer Kevin McNamara has been awarded a QUM research
Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
co-sponsored by NPS.
Following a national competitive process, Mr McNamara, will undertake a
two-year implementation project to develop and deliver a program for community
pharmacists. The program will help them to identify and educate people with
high blood pressure to better manage their condition.
8. NPS wins International award
NPS has been awarded an International Association of Business Communicators
2008 Gold Quill Award of Excellence for Communication Management -
Multi-Audience. This was awarded for our Get to Know your Medicines and Generic
medicines are an equal choice National Awareness campaigns. This campaign was
ranked 'best of the best' from more than 1040 entries submitted worldwide in
this year's competition. Gold Quill is the worldwide 'Oscars' of business
communication. Entries are judged by stringent criteria that consider strategic
alignment and tangible outcomes as key measures of excellence. The award is a
credit to NPS's excellence and rigorousness.
The judges commented on our 'bold use of consultation with stakeholders and
consumer groups at each stage, and the strength of our methodology - which was
evidence based and strong on evaluation. The letter from the Awards Chair says,
in part: 'Your project demonstrated world-class standards in strategic
communication. We are proud to salute your achievement.'
Thank you to those NPS member organisations and program partners who supported
or endorsed the campaign:
· Australian Association of
Consultant Pharmacy <http://www.aacp.com.au/>
· Australian College of Rural
and Remote Medicine <http://www.acrrm.org.au/>
· Australian General Practice
Network
· Australian Medical Association
· Consumers' Health Forum of
Australia
· COTA Partnership
· COTA over 50s
· Federation of Ethnic
Communities' Council of Australia
· Medicare Australia
· Pharmaceutical Society of
Australia
· Return of Unwanted Medicines
Project
· Royal College of Nursing
Australia <http://www.rcna.org.au/site/>
· Rural Doctors Association of
Australia
· Society of Hospital
Pharmacists of Australia
· The Pharmacy Guild of
Australia.
9.
Conference update
The first few months of 2008 have been a busy time for conference activity,
with various NPS staff exhibiting or presenting at major events for
pharmacists, GPs and CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) audiences.
Anita Maberly from the CQUM (Community Quality Use of Medicines) team gave a
joint presentation with Corinne Dobson from NPS member organisation FECCA
(Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia) as part of the
Diversity in Health conference in Sydney in March. The presentation
reflected on health promotion theory applied to project design for the health
needs of consumers from CALD backgrounds. Jackie Stephenson from CQUM chaired a
session, while staff on the NPS trade stand were kept busy meeting many of the
950 delegates.
NPS also exhibited at the Australian Pharmacy Professional (APP) Conference at
the Gold Coast in March, where interested delegates signed up to participate in
the new Pharmacy Practice Review: a counselling and action resource. The
current Review is titled: Enhancing patient care in type 2 diabetes. Enrolments
are still open at https://www.nps.org.au/resources/content/PPR_enrol_type2diabetes.php
<https://www.nps.org.au/resources/content/PPR_enrol_type2diabetes.php>
Jacqueline Tudball from the Evaluation team and Research and Development
Manager Margaret Williamson both presented on aspects of information needs at
the 3rd International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research in
Sydney.
Much of the conference activity in recent months has occurred in Melbourne:
·
Member organisation National Heart Foundation of Australia and NPS co-authored
a poster - focusing on educational interventions, use of echocardiography and
provision of patient information - which was presented at Heart Failure in 3D
(Drugs, Devices, Diagnostics): the 4th Asian Pacific Congress of Heart Failure;
· Executive Assistant Ben
Wilson gave an invited presentation on career progression at the EAPA Congress;
· Svetlana Aristidi and Health
Professionals Program Manager Judith Mackson addressed delegates on the draft
QUM toolkit at the QIP/AGPAL 4th International Conference in Primary Health
Care;
· Curriculum and Training
Manager Meg Stuart gave an oral presentation on teaching and assessing
prescribing skills via an online curriculum at the 13th Ottawa International
Conference on Clinical Competence.
10. GP and Pharmacist survey
NPS's biennial survey of health professionals and pharmacists is currently
underway.
The surveys are designed to collect data on:
· awareness and knowledge of
NPS current or past prescribing and management messages and programs
· participation and
satisfaction with NPS health professional activities
· perceptions about the
trustworthiness and completeness, etc, of NPS prescribing and feedback
information
· perceptions of the value of
NPS
· knowledge of evidence on some
prescribing options
· information sources and
electronic prescribing/dispensing systems used
· perceptions regarding the
best options for keeping up to date with advances and changes in the use of
medicines
The surveys were sent out late March. A reminder was sent out to non-responders
in late April. Results will be included in the 11th Evaluation report due later
this year.
11. Adverse Medicine Events Line brochure
A new Adverse Medicine Events Line brochure is now available. AME Line
provides consumers with an avenue for reporting and discussing adverse
experiences with medicines. Talking to AME line pharmacists can help identify
if adverse experiences are medicine related.
Consumers can call the AME line on 1300 134 237 Monday to Friday, 9 am - 5 pm
EST to talk to a pharmacist and discuss any side effects that might be due to:
· prescription medicines
· over-the-counter medicines
(e.g. pain relievers and cold medication)
· complementary medicines
(vitamins, minerals, herbal and natural medicines)
This free resource includes an AME Line fridge magnet, which can be ordered on
the NPS website. Click here to order a brochure http://www.nps.org.au/site.php?page=2
The Adverse Medicine Events Line (AME) is funded by the NPS and staffed by pharmacists
at Mater Health Services Brisbane Limited.