Sunshine, a beautiful setting and fabulous colleagues- what an amazing day in Belfast at Parliament Buildings Stormont for an All-Ireland Showcase of Collaboration, Success and shared opportunities in Healthcare Innovation and Medicines Optimisation. It was a real privilege to attend a very important day for the health sector, and pharmacy ecosystem in particular. Exciting strides are being made right now and the formal signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between MOIC – Medicines Optimisation Innovation Centre and Health Innovation Hub Ireland is a significant moment for cross-border collaboration in healthcare on the island of Ireland.

Speeches from Mike Nesbitt, Alan Dillon TD, Catherine Harrison, John R Higgins and Michael Scott MBE were all meaningful and highlighted the importance of medicine optimisation. Real life examples helped the audience fully grasp what this actually looks like in practice. 

Huge congratulations to all involved and a special word of praise to Glenda Fleming and Chris Garland for their efforts in putting together a great day.

Having the opportunity with to discuss with policy makers what the future can look like in pharmacy was fun. My main message was simple ‘Digital solutions are creative not robotic. Digital can actually help pharmacy teams have more face to face time with our patients.’

Same day but different office earlier in the day, back to student days attending Ulster University for a fantastic event ‘5 Nations Ecosystem Gathering – Connecting the Dots Globally.’

This event hosted by ECHAlliance – The Global Health Connector encourages shared learning and highlights the importance of partnerships across the UK and Ireland in the health sector.

The panel discussions have been insightful on importance of digital care and appropriate use of data to ensure healthcare continues to flourish as population size continues to grow.

Thanks to BRIAN O’CONNOR, Dr Amit N. Thakker ,EBS Adrian Johnston MBE Sheena Asthana Muiris O’Connor and health secretary Mike Farrar for their opinions on what direction the health sector should be moving.

Managing illness early and preventing a drop in productivity for employers were key themes that align perfectly with what we are doing at ConsultTed.