Principal Pharmacist for Diabetes, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Elizabeth registered as a hospital pharmacist over 20 years ago and has since practiced in the UK and Australia. Elizabeth returned from Australia in 1999 to undertake an MSc in Clinical Pharmacy at The London School of Pharmacy, where she completed a research thesis on the perceptions of pharmacists on physician-assisted suicide and voluntary active euthanasia. Elizabeth maintained her interest in medical ethics as a member of the St Thomas’ Hospital research ethics committee for a number of years thereafter. Elizabeth also started to specialise clinically in diabetes care whilst working in London and became a member of the diabetes committee of the United Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy Association, where she is now the longest standing committee member.
In 2006, she moved to University Hospitals of Leicester where she has been the principal pharmacist for diabetes ever since. In 2014, Elizabeth joined the Council of Healthcare Professionals in an advisory capacity for Diabetes UK. Elizabeth currently has an interest in diabetes prescribing errors and through this work has identified that misunderstandings and poor diabetes-specific education is the cause of many of the prescribing and administration errors that occur in patients with diabetes.
Elizabeth believes that pharmacists are often an under-utilised resource and with good diabetes education themselves, should be able to offer better patient-focused care and help to prevent errors. In her role as a Diabetes UK Local Clinical Champion Elizabeth would like to offer more education and support to pharmacists (particularly those practising in the community) so that they feel more confident and better able to become involved in the provision of good care to patients with diabetes.
