Leanne Black has been appointed to the first Pharmacist Consultant Development Post in Scotland, focused on improving the care of people living with frailty. This new two-year post is a collaborative initiative between Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), Renfrewshire HSCP, and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s (NHSGGC) Pharmacy Services.  Leanne brings a wealth of knowledge from her current role as an advanced pharmacist for older people in our HSCP’s North West locality.

As well as service development and research and evaluation, Leanne will support development and delivery of training to the multidisciplinary teams to optimise pharmaceutical care and advance practice around frailty.

Leanne’s role will provide professional support to the existing and newly created interface teams including Hospital at Home and the Home First Response team. This will aid integrated working with core services in acute, primary care and community services.

Consultant pharmacists are a new concept in Scotland, and form part of a drive to transform roles, optimising the contribution the profession can make to transforming and sustaining care.

Anne Thomson, Lead Pharmacist, Clinical Services, NHSGGC Pharmacy said: “Transforming roles in the pharmacy profession and strengthening clinical leadership is critical to how we support sustainable delivery of care. Pharmacy has a huge role to play in supporting people to get the best out of their medication as they age, reducing the risk of unscheduled care. Leanne will be a great addition to the multidisciplinary team and I look forward to working with her.”

Gary Dover, our HSCP’s Assistant Chief Officer for Primary Care, said: “I’m delighted to see that Leanne has now taken up post as our first Pharmacy Consultant specialising in frailty. Her post has come about through excellent collaborative working between Pharmacy Services and Renfrewshire and Glasgow City HSCPs, and I’m looking forward to hearing about the impact of her work in improving patient care over the next two years.”