Award-winning continuity of care
Rohan Elliott
Congratulations to Clinical Senior Lecturer Rohan Elliott, who was awarded the prestigious GlaxoSmithKline Medal of Merit at the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) conference held in Canberra last week.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Medal of Merit is awarded annually by SHPA in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the practice of pharmacy.
Rohan Elliott of CMUS and Austin Health received the medal for his significant contribution to aged care pharmacy practice. In particular he led the development of a program, MedGap, making the transfer of elderly patients from hospital to residential care facilities safer.
The MedGap program was developed after an audit found that one in five patients experienced a medication error during the transfer from hospital to residential care.
MedGap addressed this problem by having the hospital pharmacist prepare medication charts prior to discharge, allowing patients' drug regimes to continue uninterrupted. The interim chart provides additional information, such as the time of the last dose of each medication in hospital.
"Being recognised by my peers in this way is a great honour for me personally, but it is also recognition for the work done by the Austin Health Pharmacy Department and CMUS in the area of aged care pharmacy practice," Mr Elliott said.
"Certainly I could not have done the projects that contributed to my nomination for this award without the support and assistance of my collaborators and colleagues."
MedGap has also been recognised by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality as a key medication safety initiative. The Commission is in the process of developing a National Interim Residential Care Medication Chart which will incorporate key elements from the MedGap project.
Mr Elliott has a long history of collaborative research in the area of aged care. His academic research with clinical relevance has greatly influenced the practice of his peers.
Mr Elliott is a fellow of SHPA and has been a very active member for more than 20 years.