The first MI services in the UK were established at the London Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary in 1969, followed over the next 10 years by a UK-wide network of local and regional services.
Structure and activities
The first MI
services in the UK were established at the London Hospital and Leeds General
Infirmary in 1969, followed over the next 10 years by a UK-wide network of local
and regional services. This was supported by recommendations from a working
party of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Local MI centres were
established in about 270 mainly acute hospitals, largely providing a service to
their base hospital and associated local healthcare community. This number had
reduced to approximately 220 by 2010 with rationalisation and health service
reforms. Twenty regional MI centres, including national centres in Wales and
Northern Ireland, and four regional centres in Scotland have subsequently been
reduced to 15, again through a series of NHS reorgan-isations. These services
have been brought together in a structured and coordinated national network (UK
Medicines Information: UKMi), to which both local and regional services
contribute skills, expertise, know-ledge and resources. The network is
coordinated and provided with stra-tegic leadership by a national
representative body, the UKMi Executive (previously known as the UK Medicines
Information Pharmacists Group).
MI services in the
UK have developed on a hierarchical basis in which all the levels of service
provision provide mutual support through a network that encourages and promotes
effective provision of services. Support is for all levels of healthcare from point
of care to national strategic development. Figure 8.1 summarises the structure
and relationships. Each level undertakes a range of activities that is most
appropriate to the users of the service, produces maximum benefit of scale and
reduces duplication, at and between operational levels.
Table 8.1 sets out these
activities. The development of these services has been well described and
supported in the professional literature as well as being recognised by
government and other official organisa-tions.
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