Pharmacy Research Projects

Welcome to the Pharmacy Research Projects that are housed and conducted by the Research and Innovation Department at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT).

This page highlights some of our current and completed research projects, showcasing the breadth of our work, our partnerships, and our ongoing commitment to making a positive pharmacy impact through research.

Dr Hiyam Al-Jabr; Project Management and Lead; Research Fellow in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Keele University, and Senior Research Associate, R&I Dept MPFT
Professor Toby Helliwell; Professor of General Practice and Primary Care lead in Global Health, School of Medicine, Keele University, Honorary Professor of General Practice; MPFT
Dr Paul Campbell; Senior Researcher, R&I Dept MPFT & Honorary Reader, School of Medicine, Keele University
Dr Simon White; Director of Postgraduate Education, Reader in Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Keele University
Ruth Lambley-Burke; Project sponsor; Director of R&I Dept, Associate Director of Medical Directorate Operations, MPFT
Professor Christian Mallen; Head of Medical School, Keele University, Head NIHR School for Primary Care Research
Sarah McAleer; Education, Governance and Research Lead Pharmacist, and PREP Research Champion 2022-2025, MPFT
Helen B. Williamson; Pharmacist; West Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network; NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN)
Tiegan Hart; Project Coordinator; Project Support, R&I Dept, MPFT.

Pharmacy Research Projects

The Pharmacy Research Engagement Programme (PREP) is a project funded by NIHR West Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network (WM RRDN) and aimed to support embedding a research culture and increase research engagement within hospital pharmacy teams.

PREP Project Activity

Administering the Pharmacy Practice Engagement in Research Survey to pharmacy teams. This survey is adapted from previous research conducted with social work and public health practitioners.
Undertaking individual interviews and a focus group with hospital pharmacy team professionals at MPFT to explore practice-based barriers and facilitators to research engagement.
Signposting pharmacy team members to relevant internal (e.g. STARS: Supporting The Advancement of Research Skills programme at MPFT, and FutureLearn training courses) and external resources (provided by Keele University) to meet their research and training needs.
Establishing a Pharm-SIG group, led by the Director of Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation at MPFT, the Education, Governance and Research Lead Pharmacist and other members of the pharmacy team, expert researchers and academics from Keele University Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine.
Identifying and prioritising research questions to carry out future research projects.
Identifying a research champion from the MPFT pharmacy team.
Building an academic and research support network between academics, researchers and pharmacy professionals.
Providing guidance and support to pharmacy professionals who are interested in developing their own academic research career.

PREP Outputs

Conference attendance

College of Mental Health Pharmacy (CMHP) - Glasgow 2024 – Poster presentation
Clinical Pharmacy Congress (CPC) North – Manchester 2024 – Supporting your team to undertake research: barriers and facilitators – Oral presentation
Royal Pharmaceutical Society conference – London – 2025 - abstract accepted for poster presentation. Abstract published at International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, Volume 33, Issue Supplement_1, November 2025, Pages i22–i23

Blog

Incubator Blog Post on the Pharmacy Research Professionals website

Journal Publication

Two manuscripts have been submitted at peer-reviewed journals, both are currently under review.

Dissemination showcase

A dissemination showcase event was conducted in June 2025 where the findings of PREP were shared with the wider pharmacy and healthcare professional groups within West Midlands and across England. The showcase also included sharing research experiences and journeys of speakers, the support provided by Keele University and by MPFT to support conducting research, and subsequent research activities that stemmed from PREP.

As of August 2026, all pharmacy graduates who complete the 52-week Foundation Training Year and pass the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) registration exam in the summer of 2026 will be qualified as Independent Prescribers at the point of registration. This represents a transformation where Novice Pharmacist Independent Prescribers (NPIPs) will be able to prescribe from day one of employment. The aim of the NPIPs project is to design a framework to incorporate NPIPs within pharmacy services at MPFT and support their prescribing to increase scope of practice over the first year of registration and beyond.

This project is led by Dr Hiyam Al-Jabr and Dr Sarah McAleer, and data analysis is supported by Gulshan Tajuria.

NPIPs Outputs

Conference attendance

CMHP conference – Liverpool – 2025 – abstract accepted for poster presentation.

This project is ongoing, and further information on its progress and outcomes will be shared soon.

Healthcare policy in the UK has emphasised over the past two decades the importance and value of patient feedback, and its role in driving improvements to the quality of delivered health services. The aim of this project is to collect patient feedback on out-patient hospital pharmacy services, particularly at Haywood Hospital.

This project is led by Dr Hiyam Al-Jabr and by Seeba Mathew; Advanced Pharmacist (Clinical Trials, Homecare and High Cost Drugs); MPFT.

This project is ongoing, and further information on its progress and outcomes will be shared soon.

This project is based on the PREP project. This project is however targeting community professionals within West Midlands. The C-PREP project is funded by the NIHR West Midlands Regional Research Delivery Network.

The aim of this project is to understand structural and individual opportunities, facilitators and barriers to research engagement amongst local community pharmacy teams and its customers within West Midlands.

Please find further details below regarding taking part in Phase 1 of this study (i.e., completion of an online survey that explores your research skills, views and prior experience:

Community Pharmacy Professionals’ Participant Information Leaflet for Phase 1 (online survey)
Community Pharmacy Customers Participant Information Leaflet for Phase 1 (online survey)

This project is ongoing, and further information on its progress and outcomes will be shared soon.

Turn your idea into a research project

If you have a research idea that you would like to develop into a project, please complete the Pharmacy Research Idea Proposal Form. Our team will be pleased to discuss your proposal and provide the necessary support.

Contact

If you are interested in contacting the pharmacy research team, please email:

Dr. Hiyam Al-Jabr,
Research Fellow in Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Keele University, and Senior Research Associate, R&I Dept MPFT
PREP Project Management and Lead
h.al-jabr@keele.ac.uk

Pharmacy Research Projects

Pharmacy Research Projects

PREP Project Activity

PREP Outputs

Conference attendance

Blog

Journal Publication

Dissemination showcase

NPIPs Outputs

Conference attendance

Turn your idea into a research project

Contact

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Pharmacy Research Projects

Research Team

Pharmacy Research Projects

Pharmacy Research and Engagement Programme (PREP)

PREP Project Activity

PREP Outputs

Conference attendance

Blog

Journal Publication

Dissemination showcase

Novice Pharmacist Independent Prescribers (NPIPs)

NPIPs Outputs

Conference attendance

Patient Feedback

Community Pharmacy Research Engagement Programme (C-PREP)

Turn your idea into a research project

Contact

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