Reimagining Medicines Optimisation: A Call to Action for Addressing Health Inequalities
Petersfield, Hampshire, 30 October 2024 – Aspire Pharma Ltd in 2023 spearheaded an important initiative called Medicines Optimisation Centricity and initiated a White Paper published in May 2023 via Health Service Journal (HSJ), which urged healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors to work together to eliminate barriers to patient care. The paper called for the necessary resources, tools, and knowledge to ensure a truly patient-centric approach. The 2023 report and HSJ article can be found here.
This year Aspire has once again commissioned HSJ and asked the question to all healthcare professionals “Is Medicine Optimisation Creating Health Inequalities?” HSJ has produced an article exploring whether systemic challenges within the NHS are exacerbating health inequalities.
The article builds on insights from a July 2024 roundtable in Manchester, where healthcare professionals, including community pharmacy stakeholders, gathered to discuss ways to combat inequalities both with and without additional funding. The event also explored potential building blocks for long-term change.
These discussions were followed up at the HSJ Medicines Forum in October 2024, which saw over 100 senior healthcare leaders convene for three panel discussions, including one led by Aspire Pharma. The forum underscored the urgent need for reform in the approach to medicines optimisation.
The HSJ article summarising the discussions emphasised:
“Without strategic intervention, patient care inequalities will continue to widen, leading to worse public health outcomes.”
Three key challenges – cost, supply, and workforce – were highlighted as significant obstacles within the current system. The article calls on NHS and healthcare leaders to adopt a more holistic, patient-focused approach and offers several recommendations.
Aspire Pharma’s CEO, Richard Condon, participated in the HSJ panel titled “Is Medicine Optimisation Creating Health Inequalities?”. He remarked:
“Findings from both the Manchester roundtable and the HSJ Forum show that current approaches to medicines optimisation may indeed be contributing to health inequalities.
“To shift the focus from cost savings to patient outcomes, collective action and leadership across the entire healthcare ecosystem is essential. The HSJ article offers valuable recommendations, such as addressing supply issues and investing in workforce development, to build a more equitable, patient-centric healthcare system.
“My key takeaway from both the HSJ Forum and previous discussions is that medicines optimisation must serve all patients—not just those with the resources or knowledge to navigate the system.”
To read more about Medicines Optimisation Centricity, including the white paper and ‘is it Creating Health Inequalities’ Report click here: https://meds-ops-centricity.co.uk/
To read the HSJ article, Reimagining Medicines Optimisation: A Call to Action for Reducing Health Inequalities, visit: https://meds-ops-centricity.co.uk/reimagining-medicines-optimisation-thought-leadership-article/
