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About Keele Medicines Management Services

Keele Medicines Management Service is a not-for-profit organisation based at Keele University, providing tailored, cost-effective, prescribing support solutions to the NHS.

With over 18 years experience in delivering medicines management solutions and optimising medicines use, our services include:

  • Prescribing data analysis
  • Clinical evaluation (critical appraisal) services
  • Medicines management, optimisation and prescribing education
  • Medicines management and optimisation strategic action planning

Working with GPs, commissioners and local medicines management teams, we offer a wide range of medicines management services, from user-friendly, affordable, prescribing summaries for an individual practice right through to a comprehensive service, providing comparative prescribing data and action planning for a cluster of healthcare providers.

Our aim is to encourage high-quality, evidence-based prescribing, to achieve the best care for patients. We pride ourselves on providing a responsive service that reflects current, key policy drivers, such as QIPP.

We are keen to work alongside emerging GP consortia, and believe that outsourcing prescribing support activities to Keele offers healthcare providers a practical, cost-effective and, importantly, flexible option, as medicines management services are reconfigured.

Examples of our work are available below and we'd also recommend reading the feedback from our existing customers. Some of our existing materials are also available as open access resources as we recognise the importance of widely sharing best-practice.

You're also more than welcome to browse the public pages of our service for the West Midlands.

QIPP   Prescribing Information to Support QIPP document available Posted on 30 January 2013 The report includes a breakdown of key therapeutic topics recognised by the NPC as having significant potential for making a contribution to the challenge posed by QIPP.   News: Monthly Script now available Posted on 20 February 2013 The Feb-13 Monthly Script is now available on-line for West Midlands healthcare professionals. The newsletter provides a round-up of developments in five key areas of primary care prescribing. Find out more...

Supporting QIPP

Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) is a national iniative but we understand the need for support at a local level.  Focusing on the prescribing aspects of QIPP we have developed a range of supporting material whether you need a single focus for an individual practice or comparative analysis across a number of CCGs.

Examples of the type of material available include:

We also have a variety of spreadsheets promoting prescribing change in practices and these can be customised to include only the specific switches you wish to focus on.  The current prescribing options considered are split into two categories, "Better Value" changes focus on over 60 options across many therapeutic areas associated with significant savings in the West Midlands and "Quality and Productivity" changes that are arguably more challenging to implement due to the requirement for additional monitoring.  Accompanying notes are available to support prescribing change.

Examples of the current analysis undertaken for the West Midlands:

Get in touch to discuss developing support tailored to your individual requirements.

Supporting Prescribing Change

Supporting change in prescribing habits may take the form of:

We also have a variety of spreadsheets promoting prescribing change in practices and these can be customised to include only the specific switches you wish to focus on.  The current prescribing options considered are split into two categories, "Better Value" changes focus on over 60 options across many therapeutic areas associated with significant savings in the West Midlands and "Quality and Productivity" changes that are arguably more challenging to implement due to the requirement for additional monitoring.  Accompanying notes are available to support prescribing change.

Examples of the current analysis undertaken for the West Midlands:

All of the above examples can be updated on either a monthly or quarterly basis.

We can also develop something tailored to your individual requirements, so please do not hesitate to discuss your ideas with us.

Educational Outreach

To help engage practicing healthcare professionals in important medicines management issues, we produce educational outreach materials to deliver key messages to frontline staff.

Some examples of high-priority topics addressed in our recent educational outreach packages include:

  • Prescribing of antipsychotics in dementia
  • Management of urinary incontinence
  • Oral nutritional support in adults
  • Admissions avoidance

Making Change Happen

Actions for Practice Teams, or APTs, are a complete package of materials designed to support implementing and maintaining best practice in GP practices.

Each package typically contains:

  • PowerPoint® Presentation - a ready to use presentation, that you are free to add or remove slides to, which outlines key evidence around the topic being considered
  • Toolkit - to support planning and carrying out the change
  • Summary Sheet - concise summary of the key points made in the presentation to leave with the practice
  • Analysis of practice level data across the PCT for the therapeutic area considered

Example APT package: Oral Nutritional Support in Adults

Note: Originally prepared for the West Midlands, as part of a Service Level Agreement, in April 2011.

The above material was also circulated with an example ONS Request Form used by Shropshire County PCT and a summary of the MUST tool.

More information, and recent APT packages, are available from the Educational Outreach page in our Open Access Materials by clicking here.

Get in touch to discuss developing educational support tailored to your individual requirements.

Latest News

Keele produces monthly reviews of developments in the following therapeutic areas that together account for approximately three–quarters of prescribing spend:

  • Gastrointestinal system
  • Cardiovascular system (includes cardiovascular disease, hypertension and heart failure)
  • Respiratory (includes asthma, COPD, smoking cessation)
  • Central Nervous System (includes hypnotics and anxiolytics, antipsychotics, antidepressants, pain and inflammation)
  • Endocrine System (includes diabetes, HRT and osteoporosis, HRT, osteoporosis, obesity)

Alert services are scanned by the team at Keele on a daily basis for updates to national guidance (e.g. NICE, MHRA and Department of Health announcements), new or updated clinical evidence, and salient news items. Importantly, the findings are interpreted to provide clear indications of where actions or changes in practice are required, or whether there is likely to be an impact on prescribing.

An example newsletter is available below:

These new monthly reports replace the previous Quarterly Therapeutic Review (QTR).

More information, and the last year of reviews of the available evidence, are available from the Latest News page in our Open Access Materials by clicking here.

Get in touch to discuss your individual requirements.

Financial Monitoring

The Financial and General Prescribing report provides a quarterly update of the "Top 20" BNF Chapters, Sections and Chemicals both for the total spend and prescriptions.

An example of the CCG format is available below:

The report can be updated on either a monthly or quarterly basis.

We can also develop something tailored to your individual requirements, so please do not hesitate to discuss your ideas with us.

newstaff Want to talk to someone?

If you'd like to discuss your individual requirements further please contact either Dr Nicky Birks for an informal discussion or Mrs Jo Lockett for data specific questions.

 Pharmacy Prospectus Picture-09 Find out more about Keele Medicines Management Services

‌Download our brochure or access the "About Us" pages on this website to learn more about Keele Medicines Management Services