Tireless dedication to developing the role of neurology pharmacists nationwide earned Barts’ Joela Mathews QuDoS recognition.

When Joela Mathews first became a neurology pharmacist she, by her own admission, knew little more than “where the brain was”.

Since then, in 2010, she has become a leading figure in the MS world, setting up a nationwide network for her colleagues, developing education programmes – and taking the Outstanding MS Pharmacist category at the QuDoS recognition event in November.

Joela, neurosciences pharmacists lead at London’s Barts Health NHS Trust, said it had been a “steep learning curve”.

“When I started in the post, there were very few treatments for MS. When they all started to come on board, there was a lot to learn. I quickly went from only having heard of MS to realising that this was massive, and that I had a lot to do,” she said.

She credits her wider team at Barts MS, along with the task of writing the procedures and protocols for the new drugs, with her rapid education, but there was still something missing.

Peer support

“At the time, I didn’t know any other neurology pharmacists in the country – it wasn’t like the cardiac pharmacists who could call on each other and support each other,” she said.

To counter this, Joela worked with Biogen to set up the first meeting of the UK Neuro Pharmacists Network.

“At this point I had been in post for two years and was basically struggling to do everything alone. I was able to learn everything about the non-pharmacy side of MS from the team here at Barts, but I didn’t know what other people in post were struggling with and what I could learn from them.”

The network, which has since moved away from pharmaceutical sponsorship, solved that by providing networking, support and a means to “bounce ideas” and share best practice with colleagues.

Today, around 20 neuro pharmacists from across the UK attend two meetings a year, and the network is heavily involved in promoting the role of neuro pharmacists in the NHS.

Teamwork

The network is also involved with the Neurology Academy, which provides practical, needs-based training to healthcare professionals across a range of neurological conditions.

“We have done a lot of work with the academy to promote what we, as pharmacists, can do,” she said.

“Capacity is an issue across healthcare. We know there are not enough staff to do what needs to be done and that the number of cases is increasing.  At the same time, in the MS world we have lots of people who are coming up to retirement in the next five years.

“If we don’t start to use our teams differently, we are going to break.”

It’s not about replacing consultants or nurse specialists, she went on, adding that it was simply a matter of understanding what tasks could be transferred over to pharmacists.

“Pharmacists are good at governance and risk management and as the new MS drugs come through, many of them require that skillset,” she explained.

To prepare for this new way of working, Joela has also been working with the Neurology Academy to deliver a neuro pharmacist training course.

The programme debuted last year, training 16 people over the course of four study days that covered MS, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and headache, as well as the “weird and wonderful” elements of neurology.

The network also has a heavy focus on encouraging pharmacists to get involved in research, audit and data collection, to develop both their careers and their services.

For two years, the network worked with Biogen and the UK Clinical Pharmacists Association to host an MS research poster competition and this has now evolved into a Neurology Pharmacists Research Day.

“As pharmacists, we are good at analysing and critiquing information and data, but it is a skill that we don’t always utilise,” Joela said, adding that the first research day was held in January.

A win for the team

Despite the steep learning curve, the unforgiving schedule and the catalogue of extra-curricular activities, Joela said she wouldn’t have things any other way.

“I love that we are developing things all the time, and there are new treatments coming through all the time. It’s always evolving and that’s exciting. There are problems to be fixed and you have to be creative about how you do that.”

It’s this tireless attitude that led to her colleagues putting her forward to the QuDoS programme.

“I was quite surprised when I found out I’d been nominated, because you just get on with your job and don’t realise that other people are noticing what you are doing,” she said, adding that it was a victory not just for her, but for her whole team and wider group of neuropharmacists.