This month, HealthTrust Europe (HTE) hosted our first educational Pharmacy workshop in Birmingham. The event was designed in partnership with our customers, who wanted to find out more information regarding how new legislations will affect them.
The focus for the day was the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR came into effect on 29th May 2018 and pharmacies could now be heavily fined if they break new data protection rules. FMD will go live across Europe on Saturday 9th February 2019. Our aim, as usual, was to support exceptional healthcare in the communities that we serve by providing much needed answers to the challenges which will arise from these directives.
HTE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Robb, opened the event and welcomed Claymore Richardson, Senior Policy Manager: Pharmacy for the Department of Health and Social Care. Claymore initially led on the policy development of FMD at the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and was well placed to provide an overview on the directive and the impact it will have on hospital pharmacies. He also shared details of secondary care guidance resources that can be accessed.
As the day progressed, key healthcare providers and suppliers offered practical solutions for achieving compliance and welcomed questions. Delegates from both private healthcare and NHS trusts took the opportunity to obtain valuable insights on the best way to prepare for changes ahead.
Inderjit Singh, Chief Pharmacist for University Hospitals Birmingham, commented;
“FMD is set to come into full force early next year, so HTE hosted a very timely and informative workshop. This provided an opportunity to understand the implications of the legislations and learn about the solution offerings from all of the main suppliers which will be available to support implementation”.
Sanjeev Narwal, Associated Vice President for Pharmacy at HealthTrust Europe, added;
“We are overjoyed with the level of support this event received from Midlands based Chief Pharmacists. The depth of the content presented and engagement from Chief Pharmacists demonstrated the value of hosting this event. As the day progressed, a number of challenges that the pharmaceutical industry will face were revealed and the expert speakers were able to provide some answers and guidance. This event also offered a great networking opportunity for new and old colleagues within the public sector and private hospitals to advance the profession in a very challenging climate”.
We would like to thank all delegates and speakers for helping to make the day a success and look forward to partnering with healthcare providers and suppliers to address FMD and GDPR compliance.
Register here if you would like to be kept informed of future events.
