Talking Meds - A PrescQIPP podcast

Welcome to this episode of Talking Meds where your host, Jonathan Underhill, Medicines Clinical Adviser at PrescQIPP, talks to Prof Sailesh Mishra and we are going to talk about the vexing topic of pain management.
Sailesh is a Consultant in Pain Management & anaesthesia at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle Upon Tyne. He started his medical career in 1991, qualified as a doctor in 1997 and started his journey as an anaesthetic and pain management doctor in 1998. His interests in pain management includes acute & perioperative pain, neuropathic pain, and rational safe prescribing of opioids. He works on many national pain groups, including the British Pain Society. Beyond his role as a doctor, he is a Radio Presenter as RJ Sailesh on a weekly live radio show from Spice FM, called Bollywood & Beyond with RJ Sailesh – 7pm every Friday evening!
PrescQIPP resources mentioned in this episode:
Bulletin 370. Chronic pain
Bulletin 336. Reducing opioid prescribing in chronic pain
Bulletin 353. Dependence forming medicines
Clinical masterclasses
Other resources mentioned:
Opioids Aware from the Faculty of Pain Management
Clinical Masterclass - Managing Cancer as a Long Term Condition in Primary Care
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info

PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.

Find out more about PrescQIPP here

Welcome to this episode of Talking Meds where your host, Jonathan Underhill, Medicines Clinical Adviser at PrescQIPP, talks to Monica Boulton about the role of social prescribing.
Social prescribing involves connecting people to activities, groups and support to improve their health and wellbeing. Many things that affect our health, like loneliness, debt, stress or poor housing, can't be treated by medicine alone. 
Social prescribing connects people to non-medical support to address these issues and other unmet need.
This may involve helping someone join a befriending group, an art class or choir, take up exercise or even help them connect with services to help them manage debt. In short, it can help people to connect and to grow in confidence.
Monica is the Strategic Lead for Healthcare Integration & Neighbourhood Health at the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP). With over a decade of experience in social prescribing, Monica initially worked on local implementation before moving into strategic planning and programme delivery on both local and national scales. She now leads NASP’s Social Prescribing Workforce Programme with a role seeking to promote clinical engagement, drive integration of social prescribing across healthcare systems, and championing workforce development.
PrescQIPP have hosted a series of webinars to raise awareness of social prescribing. Attendees who complete all seven webinars (including watched the recordings), will be awarded 'Social Prescribing Champion' status as part of the NASP clinical champion programme
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info

PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.

Find out more about PrescQIPP here

Welcome to this episode of Talking Meds where your host, Jonathan Underhill, Medicines Clinical Adviser at PrescQIPP, talks to Emma Kirk who is the Medication Safety Officer Network Lead for the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS). Emma and Jonathan explore the thorny issue of medication safety and some of the initiatives to improve this. We will look at the role of medication safety Officers or MSOs and some of the commonly seen errors such as look alike sound alike errors – LASA errors.
Emma is a nationally recognised leader in medication safety. As the MSO Network Lead, she provides strategic support to MSOs across England, driving forward the national medication safety agenda. Her work focuses on advancing safer use of medicines through education, collaboration and system level improvement. This shapes safer practices and strengthens professional networks to promote a culture of continuous learning and patient safety across the NHS.

PrescQIPP resources mentioned:
Look Alike Sound-Alike error awareness and prevention E-learning
Medicines safety webkit 
Bulletin 336. Reducing opioid prescribing in chronic pain
Bulletin 349. Look-alike sound-alike prescribing errors
Bulletin 351. Insulin
Bulletin 356. Stopping overmedication of psychotropic drugs
Bulletin 360. Anticholinergic burden
Bulletin 361. Medicines without harm
Bulletin 373. Medicines safety
Other resourced mentioned:
Specialist Pharmacy Service - The Medication Safety Officer (MSO) role
Centre for Pharmacy PostGraduate Education (CPPE) Patient safety eLearning
Health Innovation North West Coast - Medicines Safety Programme
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info

PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.

Find out more about PrescQIPP here

Welcome to this episode of Talking Meds, discussing medicines optimisation challenges for people in secure settings such as prisons. Your host, Jonathan Underhill, Medicines Clinical Adviser at PrescQIPP, talks to Denise Farmer.
Denise is Pharmaceutical Adviser for Health and Justice Commissioning at NHS England. She has a longstanding interest in pharmacy services and medicines pathways in health and justice settings from local to national levels. She first entered a prison in Norfolk while working in a Primary Care Trust (PCT) in 2002 and never really left!
Denise’s role provides strategic support for commissioners and service providers. She leads delivery of national H&J medicines policy and strategy to improve medicines optimisation in secure custodial environments.
Further information about NHS England's commissioned services for people in prisons, immigration removal centres and secure environments for children and young people is available here: NHS commissioning » Health and justice
Resources mentioned in this episode:
PrescQIPP resources with recommendations about health and justice and contact details.
Shared resources awards project 2025
https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/what-i-do-as-a-pharmacist-in-the-prison-service
Providing pharmacy services for secure environments (2026) : CPPE
RPS professional standards: Optimising Medicines in Secure Environments
RCGPSEG: Safer prescribing in Prisons and other useful resources: Secure environments group and the affiliated UK Health and Justice Network
Health and Justice Medicines Optimisation Network - Futures (NHS Login required)
HEE/NHS WTE Careers map has a HJ area and an example in their case studies: Health & Justice - Pharmacy Careers
SPS run webinars/events for secure environments teams and stakeholders: Latest developments in Health and Justice Medicines Optimisation – NHS SPS - Specialist Pharmacy Service – The first stop for professional medicines advice
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info

PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.

Find out more about PrescQIPP here

Welcome to the second of our two episodes of Talking Meds about Genomics-informed medicines optimisation!

We are again joined by Vicky Chaplin and Paul Selby. Vicky is the Senior Clinical Lead for the Genomics Unit at NHS England, while Paul is a Consultant Pharmacist in Genomics, working at East Genomics. Again, Paul and Vicky have many qualifications in genomics and its great to have them both here to give both a National and Local view of what’s happening in this area.

In this second episode we delve deeper into what the Ten Year NHS Plan says about genomics as well as the latest developments around genomics-informed medicines optimisation, and discuss what might be coming over the horizon very soon!
PrescQIPP resources mentioned in this episode:
Pharmacogenomics webinar series
Clinical Masterclass - November 2023 - Pharmacogenomics: Is it time for implementation into clinical practice?
Other resources:
Genomics in Pharmacy - Genomics Education Programme
Spotlight: PROGRESS project
Pharmacy genomics workforce, education and training strategic framework
UKCPA Genomics community
UKCPA Handbook of Pharmacogenomics
CERSI-PGx - ADVANCING PHARMACOGENOMICS IN THE UK
Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England
PrescQIPP Annual Awards 2026 - Entries are now open for the 2026 PrescQIPP Awards - deadline: 15th May 2026
Now is the time to share all the good work you have done over the past year and be in for a chance to win a prestigious PrescQIPP award - 
open to all teams working with the NHS across all sectors!
Categories for 2026:
Addressing health inequalities
Care homes/domiciliary care/carer medicines optimisation
Data tools and technology to support medicines optimisation
Enhanced productivity, sustainability and value for money
Patient safety and address overprescribing
A new episode of Talking Meds will be available on the first Friday of the month.
If you have feedback or suggestions for future topics and guests please submit them to talkingmeds@prescqipp.info

PrescQIPP is funded by the NHS for the NHS, and our aim is to improve medicines-related care for patients. We do this by producing high quality evidence-based resources and training, and by facilitating networks between NHS organisations and professionals.
The majority of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals across the UK can access our resources by registering and logging on to our website. If you have any difficulty accessing the website you can email help@prescqipp.info and we’ll aim to sort things out for you.

Find out more about PrescQIPP here