About Us
In September 2020, NHS England set out guidance on the principles and approach to enable the development of a pharmacy and medicines optimisation transformation plan in each ICS through system transformation and collective management of system performance.
The NCL Integrating Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation (IPMO) Programme was formed to co-ordinate system-wide medicines optimisation priorities across NCL organisations, enabled by three IPMO Domains – IPMO Workforce, IPMO Value and IPMO Safety. The Domains are supported by the dedicated IPMO Programme Team. Each Domain defines its strategy, objectives and work-plan and supports delivery of the agreed projects.
IPMO Domains
Safety (& Digital)
IPMO Safety aims to support the safe use of medicines across NCL. Priorities for IPMO Safety include focusing on high-risk medicines (such as valproate and methotrexate), transfers of care (including implementation of the Discharge Medicines Service and use of green bags) and polypharmacy.
Value (& improvement)
IPMO Value aims to support the best value for medicines and improving health outcomes for people who use medicines and pharmacy services. Priorities for IPMO Value include supporting the NCL Systems Efficiency Plan, reducing inappropriate prescribing of medicines (e.g. certain psychotropics and high carbon footprint inhalers), and supporting pharmacy systems transformation (e.g. NCL aseptic services).
Workforce (& clinical pharmacy)
IPMO Workforce aims to maximise the clinical contribution of the pharmacy workforce and develop an integrated pharmacy workforce across all sectors. Priorities for IPMO Workforce include developing a pharmacy workforce strategy (including benchmarking and workforce planning), education and training (including cross-sector opportunities), and development of pharmacy networks.