HSRPP 2022 Bath – Foreword
Authors: Scott Jenny , Jones Matthew 
Published: April 2022

Welcome to the third virtual HSRPP conference in this 28th anniversary of the conference. We hope to provide you with an enjoyable and interesting conference. Little did we know when we were invited to host this conference that we would be unable to welcome you in-person to the lovely city of Bath. After much deliberation in Summer 2021, with too many unknowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to make the call to run the conference online. By October 2021 we doubted ourselves. As we write this in January 2022, with the Omicron wave upon us, it feels like it was probably the right decision. We do all of course hope that HSRPP 2023 can bring us all together again in-person, but until then, we hope you enjoy our online event.

HSRPP 2022 continues to provide an environment for researchers and practitioners, both new and experienced, to come together to share research and exchange ideas. Our conference theme is ‘Delivering impact for patients and other stakeholders’. We chose this theme because we believe it is central to why most of us do health services and pharmacy practice research. The days are long gone when research could remain within the pages of academic journals. We need to be able to demonstrate to our patients, our funders and the public how we will turn our findings into something that improves care. We need to work with patients and the public to make sure our research is relevant to them and efficient in its spend of what is, very often, public money. In short, it is what gets us up in the morning and through the tough times of research, of which there are many!

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how valuable pharmacists are, whether that be delivering vaccinations, caring for critically ill hospitalised patients or coping with the huge pressure that community colleagues have faced from the worried public. These contributions to the pandemic cause are of course on top of the ‘day job’. There is much learned and to be learned about how we move forward to deliver healthcare that is sustainable, patient-centred and fit for purpose. Research is the tool from which this learning comes.

We are going to hear real world evidence under our conference theme from our three keynote speakers: Dr Barbara Farrell, a pharmacist with the Bruyère Continuing Care Geriatric Day Hospital, and Senior Investigator with the Bruyère Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, will discuss her research experience with engaging stakeholders and users to promote the uptake and impact of deprescribing guidelines. She will highlight how her research has influenced and contributed to change in how people approach deprescribing and what difference this has made. Professor Mahendra Patel, University of Bradford, is the national Pharmacy and Ethnic Minority Communities Research Lead with the PRINCIPLE trial, University of Oxford, the world’s largest randomized clinical trial investigating COVID-19 treatment in the community. He will talk to us about promoting inclusion and diversity in clinical trials, which is critical if trial results are to be meaningful and successful when implemented to bring about change. Mr Ade Williams, lead pharmacist and independent prescriber at the multi-award-winning Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol will discuss how researchers can work with practising pharmacists to co-develop “real-life’’ impact programmes. He will also highlight how transformations in the NHS governance structure, Long Term Plan ambitions and COVID-19 legacy work are unique opportunities for community pharmacy to play a vital role. Mahendra and Ade were both recognised in the New Year Honours List 2022 for their outstanding contributions to Pharmacy.

We would like to thank all those who have contributed to making HSRPP 2022 a success. They include those who have submitted abstracts, the conference steering committee, Pharmacy Research UK, our keynotes speakers, workshop leaders, session chairs and prize judges, our sponsor Day Lewis, our colleagues at University of Bath, and you – research presenters and conference delegates. We would like to offer our special thanks to our Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian White for welcoming delegates to our University. We sincerely hope you enjoy the conference, make the most of the chance to meet researchers from the UK and elsewhere, and leave feeling inspired and excited for new research possibilities that lie ahead.

Jenny Scott and Matthew Jones, HSRPP 2022 Conference hosts