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National QUM Awards 2006 - Report National QUM Awards 2006 - Report
The National QUM Awards 2006 were presented at the National Medicines Symposium dinner on 8 June 2006 by Professors Andrea Mant and Ken Harvey.
Celebrating excellence in the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM), these awards recognise the originators of QUM work and the contribution of health professionals, the community, students, consumers, pharmaceutical companies, government, the health industry and the media to achieving better use of medicines.
Award winners are listed below. Awards were given in the following categories:
- Health Professional QUM Award, Community QUM Award
- Health Industry QUM Award
- Student QUM Award, and
- NMS Poster Presentation Award.
What is Quality Use of Medicines?
Quality Use of Medicines (QUM) is one of the central objectives of Australia's National Medicines Policy.
QUM means:
- Selecting management options wisely;
- Choosing suitable medicines if a medicine is considered necessary; and
- Using medicines safely and effectively.
The definition of QUM applies equally to decisions about medicine use by individuals and decisions that affect the health of the population.
The term 'medicine' includes prescription, non-prescription and complementary medicines.
Health Professional QUM Award
Winner
(Presented by Professor Ken Harvey)
Professor Robyn Ward, NSW Cancer Institute and St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
CI-SCaT-The Cancer Institute NSW Standard Treatment Program.
The Cancer Institute NSW Standard Treatment Program is an online resource of cancer treatment protocols developed by multidisciplinary teams of cancer specialists. The purpose of the protocols is to facilitate consistent, evidence-based care of patients by providing health care practitioners with easy access to accurate and relevant information at the time treatment decisions are being made.
While the documentation of clinical protocols for cancer chemotherapy is not a new activity, the CI-SCaT Program is an innovative approach because the content is comprehensive, evidence-based and relevant to the needs of healthcare professionals; determined by stakeholders and not 'selected experts'; and updated regularly by an on-line peer review process.
Highly Commended
(Accepted by Henry Councillor)
WA Country Health / Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council / Kimberley Division of General Practice
Kimberley Standard Drug List & Chronic Disease Strategy
The Kimberly Standard Drug List & Chronic Disease Strategy is a health development service project which aims to improve the management of chronic, non-communicable disease through improved medication access and quality use of medicine in the remote Kimberley region of the far north of Western Australia.
The groups involved developed and implemented a minimum drug list that is available and utilized by all Kimberley healthcare providers and a series of chronic protocols that reflect and support the implementation of the Kimberly Standard Drug List through a consistent process of management for chronic, non-communicable diseases in the Kimberley.
Community QUM Award
Winner
(Presented by Professor Andrea Mant)
Multicultural Mental Health Australia (MMHA) - Meg Griffiths
No more 'mualagh' - Depression Medication Project
The No more 'mualagh' project focuses on educating Afghani people living in rural Australia about depression, how it is treated and the safe use of medicine. The word 'mualagh' is a Dari word meaning 'floating in sad uncertainty'.
The project involved the development of a range of materials focusing on messaged about depression for people from Afghanistan living in rural areas. These materials included English and Dari fact sheets, a fact sheet for health professionals and community service announcements.
The project was a joint initiative with Multicultural Health Australia and the national Ethnic Disability Alliance, and was funded by the National Prescribing Service under the Community Quality Use of Medicines Rural Project Scheme.
Highly Commended
Katherine West Health Board Aboriginal Corporation - Jill McDonald
Safer Use of Medicines - Engaging Consumers
Katherine West Health Board Aboriginal Corporation developed this project in response to an identified need for delivering a safe medicine delivery system in this remote region of Australia.
The project builds on a consumer-oriented component to the Corporation's existing quality improvement processes that have previously concentrated on providers. The project aims to increase safety of medicine use through increased consumer awareness of medicine safety issues via language films, brochures and posters.
Health Industry QUM Award
Winner
The Pharmaceutical Alliance - Eli Lilly Australia, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck Sharp & Dohme - Judith Griffin and Zarli French
Views of Quality Use of MedicinesThe research aimed to consult the Medicines Community into their needs, values and responsibilities of those involved in QUM, and the opportunities and barriers they saw to achieving QUM in Australia. Discussions were carried out with stakeholders, people working 'on the ground' and a national stakeholder workshop in November 2004, involving 50 participants.
As an evolutionary study, containing practical suggestions made by contributors to overcome barriers, this research has made an important contribution to the body of evidence in QUM. The 'Views of Quality Use of Medicines' is a summation of achievements made in QUM in the past fifteen years, and provides a map of work that will continue to help the Australian Medicines Community for many years.
Student QUM Award
Winner
(Presented by Professor Ken Harvey)
Luke Bereznicki, Tasmanian School of Pharmacy
Improving the quality use of anticoagulants in clinical practiceThis research activity comprises Luke's PhD research on improving the management of anticoagulants in the community and hospital setting.
The body of work encompasses a range of projects, including
1) improving the quality and safety of warfarin use in the hospital and transfer of information to general practice,
2) improving the use of prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalised medical patients, and
3) home-monitoring by patients of warfarin with portable international normalized ration (INR) monitors with Internet communications to general practitioners.
Highly Commended
Kay McCauley, Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre
The National Register of Antipsychotic Medication in Pregnancy (N-RAMP)
Kay is currently undertaking PhD research on best practice in the management of women with psychosis in pregnancy, which has involved the development of a National Register of Antipsychotic Medication in Pregnancy, or N-RAMP, under the guidance of the director of Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Professor Jayashiri Kulkarni.
N-RAMP is modeled on the National Anticonvulsant Medications in Pregnancy Register and has far reaching implications for the quality use of medicines in pregnancy. The register specifically generates for the first time useful data about medications for pregnant women with schizophrenia, such as the type and dose of antipsychotic medication.
NMS 2006 Poster Presentation QUM Award
Winner
(Presented by Professor Andrea Mant)
Poster number 327. Authors: Jodie Hillen, Elizabeth Roughead, Andrew Gilbert, Debra Rowett, Roshmeen Azam, Simone Rossi, Christopher Alderman, and Nigel Stocks.
Data-driven patient-specific prescriber feedback; the Veterans' MATES project, Quality Use of Medicines & Pharmacy research Centre, Sansom Institute, University of South Australia.
Highly Commended
Professor Ric Day, Chair PHARM, Patricia Deerrick, Dr Lynn Weekes, CEO NPS, Dr Roger Boyd, Chair NPS
Poster number 327. Author: Patricia M Derrick, of the Mallee Division of General Practice.
Managing Medicines in the Mallee: a rural community QUM project.
Honorable mentions
Entries in this category were of particularly high quality. The judges were compelled to give Honorable mentions to the following entries:
- Poster number 413. Author: Frances Vaughan, Centre for Remote Health, Alice Springs - Pharmacotherapeutics for remote area nurses
- Poster number 302. Author: Leigh A Laurence, Pfizer Australia Pty Ltd - Improving device instructions — a customer focused approach
Date published: 2011-01-01 00:00:00
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