Pharmacy Department, St. Vincent’s University Hospital Signs Memorandum of Understanding with School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin

28th November 2017

On the 28th November 2017, the Pharmacy Department at St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

This MOU provides a solid basis for;

·         Co-operation in establishing teaching, research and clinical links and providing a suitable environment for undergraduate and postgraduate  training and education in Pharmacy

·         Co-operation in facilitating professional development in Pharmacy

·         Encouraging research opportunities

·         Mutual collaboration for the provision of excellence in patient care.

Speaking at the official signing of the MOU, Mr. Paul Tighe, Head of Pharmacy Services at SVUH said:

“We have a long and established relationship with TCD School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.  Seventeen of our pharmacists are graduates of the TCD Pharmacy Degree programme and nine of our staff are graduates of the TCD M.Sc. in Hospital Pharmacy programme. We look forward to having two pharmacists commence the M.Sc. course in January 2018.  Research projects completed by our postgraduate and undergraduate students have been a way for us to evaluate and develop our services, and we value the guidance, support and expertise provided by the staff in Trinity College”.

The School of Pharmacy in Trinity has links with the Pharmacy Department in St. Vincent’s spanning a period of over twenty years. This started initially with a small number of students undertaking vacation work experience and evolved into co-supervised research projects with Senior Sophister students, which continue to this day.  The SVUH Pharmacy Department also assists the School by hosting Senior Sophister students undertaking a Medication History Taking exercise. On the postgraduate front, when the MSc in Hospital Pharmacy began in 1996, St. Vincent’s University Hospital was one of the five Dublin Area Teaching Hospitals that helped to establish it.

In relation to research collaborations – clinical audits, medication safety, pharmacokinetics, patient information, antiviral drug selection, antibiotic stewardship have all been areas in which work has been undertaken and presented nationally, and also published in international peer reviewed journals. Recently, a new collaboration in palliative care has begun, and next year a PhD student will commence a project, to be co-supervised by TCD Associate Professor Sheila Ryder, Practice of Pharmacy and Claire Keane, SVUH Chief 2 Pharmacist Education and Formulary, exploring optimisation of discharge prescribing and associated care processes.

Professor. Anne Marie Healy, Head of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences added: “The formative education of pharmacists, their continuing professional development, innovation in pharmacy practice and clinical research – these are all predicated on co-operation between clinical sites and universities. We hope to build on our existing collaborations with St. Vincent’s University Hospital Pharmacy Department in a number of these areas and this Memorandum of Understanding signals that intent. We were delighted to acknowledge Claire Keane’s many fine contributions by awarding her the title of Clinical Lecturer and it is fitting, that in tandem with the signing of this MOU, we should recognise the input of key staff here in both teaching and research by awarding them also with academic titles. We will be working with St. Vincent’s University Hospital in the coming weeks to put in place such titles for others in the pharmacy team”.

Welcoming the signing of the formal MOU and speaking also at the event, Professor. Michael Keane Acting CEO of SVUH said: “We envisage that this MOU will foster collaboration between academic and practice based pharmacy staff in St. Vincent’s and Trinity College to teach and develop pharmacists who can care for our most complex, hospitalised patients, and to develop and improve hospital pharmacy services”.

Professor. Mary McCarron, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences TCD commented: “For St. Vincent’s University Hospital Pharmacy Department and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences the challenges to providing higher quality care and education while also carrying out relevant and novel research are growing. We know that we share the same approach and the same values and that our track record of unbroken, fruitful collaboration for over two decades stands us in good stead. We look forward to establishing a closer working relationship in all of these areas and to starting new ventures and projects together”.