University College London hospital: workforce innovation runner-up

University College London Hospital's training programme helped staff identify weaknesses in their clinic’s processes.

A leading London teaching hospital is giving staff the power to decide how outpatient clinics are run, which is transforming services, reducing waiting times and improving the patient experience.

University College London hospital sees more than 800,000 people in outpatient clinics every year.

But it realised it had to improve the system after a questionnaire revealed 47% of outpatients ranked the service they received as "not at all" or "fairly" well organised, and 59% complained that they had to wait at least 30 minutes before they were seen in a clinic.

The trust's quality, efficiency and productivity team designed a 24-week staff training programme which, with the support of service improvement coaches, aimed to help clinic staff identify where there were weaknesses in their clinic's processes and procedures and to come up with solutions to solve the problems.

So far the team has worked with 31 different multi-disciplinary staff teams and 300 outpatient clinics.

The results are impressive. The endocrinology clinic has halved waiting times to 45 minutes by staggering patient arrival times and realigning clinic templates. The musculoskeletal clinic has cut its waiting list from 15 weeks to seven by pooling its booking queues system.

The introduction of a 24-hour telephone advice line in maternity has reduced clinic waiting times, taken the pressure off labour wards and improved the experience of patients.

Louise Molloy, productive programme manager, says: "In essence, this programme gives teams the permission to focus on and improve their services.

"It allows them to take all those things that they see are not working and bring them together with the right staff, and working with a professional coach, to develop a programme of work to solve those problems."

At least 80% of outpatient clinics are scheduled to go through the process by 2015.

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Big Pharma Companies will meet at the Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss performing clinical trials in older people, 16-17 September, London

Main Category: Conferences
Article Date: 19 Aug 2013 - 8:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Big Pharma Companies will meet at the Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss performing clinical trials in older people, 16-17 September, London

Patients over the age of 65 are prescribed the majority of prescription drugs used in the UK but are significantly under-represented in clinical trials. Statistics show that although over 65's carry 60% of the disease burden they are only represented at a rate of 32% in phase I-III Clinical Trials. Why do clinical trial recruitment designs neglect this patient population? 

Challenges which include co-morbidities, polypharmacy drug-drug interactions, adherence formulation challenges are just some of the difficulties faced when performing clinical trials in this population, not to mention the problems of delivery.

SMi's inaugural Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, taking place on the 16th-17th of September 2013 in London, will look to tackle these issues and will address Benefit-risk in this patient population and how clinical trials could be better designed to facilitate the participation of the elderly in clinical trials.

According to Nina Lee Barnett, Consultant pharmacist, Northwick Park Hospital who is speaking on day one "I am really looking forward to participating in this meeting. It is great to see a programme which includes internationally renowned contributors from a wide variety of backgrounds, all delivering sessions which support safer use of medicines in older people. This meeting is an opportunity to foster collaboration on research projects which include older people and to break down barriers preventing studies in this age demographic."

Through a novel range of case studies attendees will discover new market gaps, market strategies and focus on EMA geriatric medicines strategy and how modelling and simulation along with new patient reporting systems support clinical trials in older people.

Keynote speakers include Solange Rohou, Director Regulatory Affairs, AstraZeneca who will be presenting on: What has been done since the revision of the ICH E7 guideline? The Companies' view and Barbro Westerholm, Member of Swedish Parliament, who will speak on: Patient perspectives on healthy ageing.

Event highlights include:

Discover the benefits of performing clinical trials in older people Identify the key challenges and considerations when conducting clinical trials in older people Address reasons for clinical trial retention difficulties Discuss how modelling and simulation along with new patient reporting systems support clinical trials in older people Explore new market gaps and discover new market strategy Focus on the EMA geriatric medicines strategy

For the full conference programme and further information please visit:? http://www.smi-online.co.uk/goto/geriatricsummit55.asp

Alternatively contact Jonathan Collins on +44 (0)20 7827 6734 or email: jcollins@smi-online.co.uk

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event, please contact Alia Malick on +44(0) 20 7827 6168.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our conferences section for the latest news on this subject.

About SMi Group

Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries.

We pride ourselves on having access to the world’s most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. We hold events in over 30 major cities throughout the world including London, Paris and Singapore and to date have welcomed over 200,000 participants from 80 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Ltd, SMi Group. "Big Pharma Companies will meet at the Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss performing clinical trials in older people, 16-17 September, London." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 19 Aug. 2013. Web.
19 Aug. 2013. APA
Ltd, S. (2013, August 19). "Big Pharma Companies will meet at the Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss performing clinical trials in older people, 16-17 September, London." Medical News Today. Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/265006.php.

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'Big Pharma Companies will meet at the Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss performing clinical trials in older people, 16-17 September, London'

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Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, 16th-17th of September 2013 in London

Main Category: Conferences
Article Date: 16 Aug 2013 - 4:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, 16th-17th of September 2013 in London

Representation of Older People in Clinical Trials

SMi Group reports (August 15, 2013): Big Pharma Companies will meet in London at Geriatric Safe Medicines Summit to discuss challenges and opportunities for performing clinical trials in older people.

Patients over the age of 65 are prescribed the majority of prescription drugs used in the UK but are significantly under-represented in clinical trials. Statistics show that although over 65's carry 60% of the disease burden they are only represented at a rate of 32% in phase I-III Clinical Trials. Why do clinical trial recruitment designs neglect this patient population?

Challenges which include co-morbidities, polypharmacy drug-drug interactions, adherence formulation challenges are just some of the difficulties faced when performing clinical trials in this population, not to mention the problems of delivery.

SMi's inaugural Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, taking place on the 16th-17th of September 2013 in London, will look to tackle these issues and will address Benefit-risk in this patient population and how clinical trials could be better designed to facilitate the participation of the elderly in clinical trials.

According to Nina Lee Barnett, Consultant pharmacist, Northwick Park Hospital who is speaking on day one "I am really looking forward to participating in this meeting. It is great to see a programme which includes internationally renowned contributors from a wide variety of backgrounds, all delivering sessions which support safer use of medicines in older people. This meeting is an opportunity to foster collaboration on research projects which include older people and to break down barriers preventing studies in this age demographic."

Through a novel range of case studies attendees will discover new market gaps, market strategies and focus on EMA geriatric medicines strategy and how modelling and simulation along with new patient reporting systems support clinical trials in older people.

Keynote speakers include Solange Rohou, Director Regulatory Affairs, AstraZeneca who will be presenting on: What has been done since the revision of the ICH E7 guideline? The Companies' view and Barbro Westerholm, Member of Swedish Parliament, who will speak on: Patient perspectives on healthy ageing.

Event highlights include:

Discover the benefits of performing clinical trials in older peopleIdentify the key challenges and considerations when conducting clinical trials in older peopleAddress reasons for clinical trial retention difficultiesDiscuss how modelling and simulation along with new patient reporting systems support clinical trials in older peopleExplore new market gaps and discover new market strategyFocus on the EMA geriatric medicines strategy

For the full conference programme and further information please visit:?http://www.smi-online.co.uk/goto/geriatricsummit55.asp

Alternatively contact Jonathan Collins on +44 (0)20 7827 6734 or email: jcollins@smi-online.co.uk

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event, please contact Alia Malick on +44(0) 20 7827 6168.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our conferences section for the latest news on this subject.

About SMi Group

Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries.

We pride ourselves on having access to the world’s most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. We hold events in over 30 major cities throughout the world including London, Paris and Singapore and to date have welcomed over 200,000 participants from 80 countries.

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Group, SMi. "Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, 16th-17th of September 2013 in London." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 16 Aug. 2013. Web.
16 Aug. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Geriatrics Safe Medicines Summit, 16th-17th of September 2013 in London'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam). We reserve the right to amend opinions where we deem necessary.

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Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

SMi's Cancer Vaccine Summit, 18-19 September 2013, London UK

Main Category: Conferences
Article Date: 14 Aug 2013 - 8:00 PDT Current ratings for:
SMi's Cancer Vaccine Summit, 18-19 September 2013, London UK

According to an article published online by the Telegraph, scientists at the University of Southampton have developed a new drug that works by increasing the ability of the immune system to recognise and attack tumours. A £5 million European Union funded trial of the new treatment is due to start next year.

SMi's keynote speaker at Cancer Vaccines 2013, Prof Martin Glennie, who has led the research at the University of Southampton, said:

"Some cancers are able to switch the immune cells off. We have been working on a drug that effectively puts the foot on the accelerator to rev up the immune system... If we use this with a vaccine we can steer the immune cells and train them to target the cancer."

Prof. Martin Glennie will be providing delegates at SMi's 2nd annual Cancer Vaccines conference with a unique insight on anti-cancer immunity. The presentation titled: Developing Antibodies to Stimulate Anti-Cancer Immunity will:

Discuss the nature of anti-cancer immunity and the ability of the immune system to recognise most types of cancer.Explore how antibodies recognising key members of the TNFR super family can stimulate T-cell responses against cancer.Show that these immuno stimulating antibodies need to engage Fc receptors in the host to provide sufficient cross-linking of the various TNFR's.Discuss how antibody engineering will be used to optimise cross-linking activity in vivo.

Cancer Vaccines - 18-19 September 2013, London UK

To meet Prof. Martin Glennie and for further information visit the event homepage at:? www.smi-online.co.uk/goto/2013cancervaccinesevent74.asp

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Source:

SMi Group Ltd

Visit our conferences section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Ltd, SMi Group. "SMi's Cancer Vaccine Summit, 18-19 September 2013, London UK." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 14 Aug. 2013. Web.
14 Aug. 2013. APA

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'SMi's Cancer Vaccine Summit, 18-19 September 2013, London UK'

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Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here