UCL School of Pharmacy New Year Lecture: first impressions count

Morgan Williams, UCL School of Pharmacy, writes about the first event for the School after its merger with UCL, held on 10 January.

Everyone understands the importance of first impressions and tonight really has something of a first date feel to it.

It’s the fifth New Year Lecture that the School of Pharmacy has organised, but the first under the UCL banner. It comes just nine days after the conclusion of a merger process that’s taken up the best part of the past two years for the School.

I’d be lying if I said that it’s been an easy courtship. So, there’s a certain frisson in the air as Lord Tim Clement-Jones introduces our speaker Professor Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice-Provost (Health), to an audience at the Royal Society that is jam-packed with pharmacy movers and shakers.

Professor Tooke speaks about ‘Pharmacy, Medicine and the Future NHS’. It’s a thoughtful and stimulating address that highlights some of the central challenges facing healthcare  – notably, the increasing gap between total health spending and GDP growth.

This gap is growing for a number of reasons, but the ageing population is one that resonates. The doubling of the number of UK octogenarians by 2033 conjures up images of gangs of pensioners pushing hoodies around at bus stops; however, it presents a serious challenge for UK healthcare.

The figures for neurodegeneration alone are pretty overwhelming. There are currently about 750,000 people in the UK who have a form of dementia; by 2021 this rises to about 940,000 and will hit more than 1.7 million by 2051.

Professor Tooke suggests an holistic approach to developing biomedical solutions and outlines some particular areas where the joint interests of pharmacy and medicine could benefit patients. Some early flirtations/collaborations between the School of Pharmacy and UCL have already started to investigate new drug development and formulation science.

The importance of the work that the School does in understanding the value of medicine and in addressing adherence issues is noted, as is our role in the development of the New Medicine Service.

The need for closer working relationships between health professionals has been a familiar theme of these lectures. However, it seems a more tangible problem for the School to tackle as part of a multi-faculty institution and there appears to be a genuine opportunity for meaningful research into sustainable solutions for the challenges facing healthcare.

The optimism about the possibilities of the merger is reflected in the Q&A session and in the post-lecture chit-chat, which makes me feel that it’s been a pretty good date. It might be a bit early to buy a hat, but we’re all left looking forward to seeing this relationship blossom.