Pharmacy practice
Our main interests are focused on the needs and behaviours of patients in order to improve the use and effects derived from medicines. We also provide support to primary and secondary care pharmacists associated with developing robust methods of service evaluation and with regard to promoting new pharmaceutical care services.
Our vision for taking forward practice research takes account of national and local health policy and the drivers that are currently affecting the developing roles of pharmacy staff.
Linking cutting edge laboratory research with the day-to-day professional practice of pharmacy, we align our applied research approach with policy agendas aimed at improving the quality of pharmacy practice in primary care and especially in social care environments such as care homes.
We offer consultancy in collaboration with our academic colleagues in social care, on the safety of storage and administration of medicines in care homes.
Our applied research approach lends well to carrying out evaluations of pharmaceutical care services such as the provision of Monitored Dosage Systems or other medication systems designed for domiciliary or residential use.
Analytical techniques
A unique strength of our group is that we have scientists with world-leading experience in using Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry in healthcare applications. Analytical techniques have already been developed to analyse drugs derived from ‘finger-prick’ blood spots that enable improvements to be made in monitoring medicines in newborn babies and facilitate the development of personalised medicine for individual patients. The aim of both of these areas of research is to improve patient care. We have extended this research to the measurement of drug blood levels as a basis for assessing the medication-taking behaviour of cardiovascular patients. Dried blood spot analysis.
A new and rapidly developing area of research concerns the rapid identification of counterfeit medicines. The growing menace of counterfeit or fake medicines presents a serious and increasing threat to patient safety and public health globally. Estimates indicate that about 10% of medicines worldwide are counterfeits and this figure rises to 30% in low and middle income countries such as Africa. Drs Sangeeta Tanna and Graham Lawson have conducted research into simpler and faster ways of identifying counterfeit medicines.