Download derbyshire mental health specialist

DERBYSHIRE MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST PHARMACIST
ELECTED TO NEW NATIONAL ROLE
A DERBYSHIRE pharmacist, who specialises in the use of medicines to treat
people with mental illness, is to play a national role in improving the way
pharmacy is developed in England.
Dr David Branford, Chief Pharmacist of Derbyshire Mental Health Services
NHS Trust and based at Kingsway Hospital in Derby, has been voted to serve
on the newly-created English Pharmacy Board after a tightly-contested
election.
Dr Branford said: “It is a real honour for someone from a specialist
background, such as mental health, to be elected to the main body for
pharmacy.
“It is an opportunity to influence national policy about the whole way
medicines are used in the country.
“An important focus will be on primary care, which is responsible for about 90
per cent of prescribing for people with mental health problems, and ways we
can accelerate some of the improvements that have already taken place in
hospitals.”
Trust Chief Executive Mike Shewan, said: “This is another coup for the
county’s NHS. David’s name is synonymous with mental health pharmacy and
we are delighted that his Derbyshire expertise will again be used for the
benefit of healthcare at a national level.”
The appointment builds on the far-reaching work Dr Branford has carried out
over the past 20 years to develop the specialist role of a pharmacist in a
mental healthcare setting.
This experience has included many national initiatives, including the
development of NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) guidelines,
and the introduction of New Ways of Working, an initiative to introduce a more
flexible and skilled mental health workforce.
He launched the UK Psychiatric Pharmacy Group, an organisation for mental
health pharmacists, and was a founder of the College of Mental Health
Pharmacy.
In tandem with its Welsh and Scottish counterparts, the English Pharmacy
Board will oversee all aspects of pharmacy delivered in community, hospital,
academic and industrial settings. Its creation follows a reorganisation of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
ENDS