Pharmapod secures two major Irish Pharmacy industry tenders – Press Release 11/11/14

An innovative Irish start-up has secured two major national tenders to provide unique software and training for the Irish Pharmacy profession.

Pharmapod won the tenders with the Royal College of Surgeons and the newly-established Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP) which was founded to promote excellence in the areas of patient care, professional standards, education and research in pharmacy practice. 

The tenders involve creating products that will drive excellence in the profession of pharmacy. 

The first is the Core Competency Self-Assessment Tool (CCSAT) which will be accessible to all pharmacists in Ireland to self-assess their core competencies and identify their professional development needs.

The CCSAT is a browser-based tool to assist all pharmacists whether they are based in hospital, community, industry, academia or regulatory roles. 

It has been developed to allow pharmacists to self-reflect and identify their own learning needs. In the future, demonstrating use of the CCSAT may form part of the ePortfolio review process.

The second tender was for the development of a National Training Programme for Superintendent Pharmacists which adds value to all superintendents, addressing the core learnings needed to carry out their role effectively. 

‘’It’s an exciting new programme which covers challenges specific to roles such as superintendents of independent pharmacies through to hospital superintendents and those operating within senior management teams of larger corporate structures where leadership, communications and influencing skills are vital,’’ said CEO Leonora O’Brien, who founded Pharmapod less than two years ago.

“The aim of the programme is to enhance knowledge and skills which are particularly relevant to the leadership and management role of the Superintendent Pharmacist. 

“It is designed to stimulate reflection and self-awareness with the ultimate aim of enhancing the quality of care provided to patients. 

“The IIOP are a great organisation to work with and we are delighted to be a part of their drive for professional excellence.”

Superintendent pharmacists interested in participating in the programme should visit the IIOP website (www.iiop.ie) to register. 
Participants are required to complete pre-course self-appraisal exercises and attend a two day face-to-face programme and complete post course work.
The programme will also drive the development of pharmacy practice to ensure that it meets the emerging needs of patients and the wider healthcare system.

Pharmapod are now looking to build on the impressive growth of their Global Incident Reporting and Learning System (GRLS) – a unique application that manages the risk for both the patient and the pharmacy business.

“It helps Pharmacists to reduce errors by recording medication-related incidents leading to effective real-time risk analysis,” said Leonora, an experienced pharmacist who was named as the Top Digital Healthcare Influencer in Ireland at the Healthees in December. 

Castlerea native Leonora was also last week named as the Entrepreneur of the Year at the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year Awards in Dublin.

Pharmapod employ ten people at their new offices in Leeson Street, which were recently opened by opened by Niamh Bushnell, Startup Commissioner for Dublin and Tom McGuinn, Chief Policy Advisor at the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

Pharmapod are also launching their online SOP function before Christmas this year which will provide a high standard of SOPs and Practice Policies for pharmacy businesses, making version control and the on-going tracking of staff training simple and effective.

 

For more information please contact the Pharmapod Team: [email protected].
For media information please contact:
Darren Hughes
MediaConsult
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