SSG

Please join us Wednesday 9th of December at 7pm in the Lecture Theater PGMEC City Hospital Campus for our talk by Professor Nick Barber BPharm, PhD, FRCPharm, FRSM

Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy at UCL School of Pharmacy

Following a PhD in Clinical Pharmacology, Nick ran hospital pharmacies before returning to academia as one of Europe’s first professors of pharmacy practice. His work is focused on improving people’s lives with medicines. He has published over 200 research papers and been cited more than 26,000 times. Much of his work has been in collaboration with disciplines ranging from philosophy to mathematical modelling. His 1995 BMJ paper asking “What is good prescribing?” provided a framework which was adopted by the National Prescribing Centre and used to review GP prescribing. His work on medication errors led to changes in national policies in care homes and his non-adherence work was the basis of the New Medicine Service. Provided by community pharmacies, it delivered 7 million consultations last year.

Nick is a former Vice President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and winner of their Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been Director of Research at the Health Foundation and Mentor-in-Chief at the Health Improvement Studies Institute, Cambridge. Non-executive director roles include the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and West London NHS Trust, which provides mental and community health to West London and Broadmoor Hospital. He presented the BBC series “Victorian Pharmacy”. He is currently Head of Clinical Outcomes at the technology start-up Aide Health. His first book for the public, “How to Take Drugs”, was published by Macmillan in May. It re-sets our relationship with medicines, empowering patients with an approach to support their decision making about medicines. In doing so it provides a vision for the future of medicines in our societies.

In his presentation, Professor Barber will draw on the arguments presented in his new ‘How to Take Drugs’. He proposes that the existence of a good relationship between a person and their medicine, something he calls eupharmia, should be an important consideration in prescribing. He argues that drugs have significant limitations as a technology, and therefore we need to adopt special approaches to ensure that people get the best out of their medicines, or decide not to take them. He will provide a decision tree drawn from other human relationships and will speculate on the way this could be implemented in the future as roles and technologies develop.

For the link to access meeting via Teams, please click here

You can see the recording of the talk on our YouTube channel once available by clicking here

For any more information please contact admin@medchi.org.uk

Come and learn a new skill and take home a “bunch of flowers” made from Fuzzy Wire on Saturday 28th of November at the City Hospital PGMEC Lounge, from 10am to 12pm.

Family and friends welcome. Accompanied children over 8 welcome.

£10 / person

Additional £10 for an optional hand turned wooden vase to display, if booked in advance.

Free parking and refreshments. All products needed are supplied but if you have any wire cutters or scissors you don’t mind potentially being damaged cutting wire, please bring some of your own for a more free flowing event. Thanks.

Only 10 places available.

Please book via: admin@medchi.org.uk

Please state the number of people attending and if you will be requiring a hand turned wooden vase. First to complete the request with payments will be accepted.

Saturday 28 November 2026 10am – 12 midday

City Hospital PGMEC Lounge

For anyone not familiar with City Hospital Nottingham, the Postgraduate Centre is location R on the hospital site map. Limited free parking is available behind the Postgraduate Centre, or in public Parking at the hospital; the Purple car park by Gate 4 is the most convenient for the Postgraduate Centre.

For any more information please contact admin@medchi.org.uk

Please join us on Wednesday 16th of November at 7pm in the Lecture Theater PGMEC City Hospital Campus for our talk by Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE, FRCGP, SFFMLM,

GP and Patient Safety Commissioner for England.

Professor Henrietta Hughes OBE started as the first Patient Safety Commissioner in September 2022, an independent role recommended by the report First Do No Harm.

Acting as an independent champion for patients Henrietta leads a drive to improve the safety of medicines and medical devices by ensuring that patient voices are at the heart of the design and delivery of healthcare in England.

A practising GP and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Medicine, University of Greater Manchester, Henrietta is a member of the Health Honours Committee and the guiding group of the Women’s Health and Care Leaders Network.  Henrietta was previously the National Guardian for the NHS and a Medical Director at NHS England. Henrietta has held executive and non-executive roles in the NHS and is Chair of Childhood First, a children’s charity.

In her presentation on ‘Listening to Patients’, Henrietta will cover the following:

• The vital role of the Patient Safety Commissioner
• Reflections on her first term as Patient Safety Commissioner
• Key findings from Henrietta’s report (the Hughes Report) which proposed options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh
• Understanding and addressing the patient safety gap
• Martha’s Rule which is designed to ensure urgent, independent reviews if a patient’s condition deteriorates and their family’s concerns are not being acted upon: rationale, progress and impact
• Looking ahead: the AI Commission and future patient safety work

For the link to access meeting via Teams, please click here

For anyone not familiar with City Hospital Nottingham, the Postgraduate Centre is location R on the hospital site map. Limited free parking is available behind the Postgraduate Centre, or in public Parking at the hospital; the Purple car park by Gate 4 is the most convenient for the Postgraduate Centre.

You can see the recording of the talk on our YouTube channel once available by clicking here

For any more information please contact admin@medchi.org.uk

Click here

A full programme of lectures and talks for the academic session 2026-2027 has now been published.

You can read the summary list of lectures and talks and dates by clicking here or you can go to the events  page.

To download and print the list of lectures and talks please click here

For a detailed description of the talks and the speakers, please go to the meetings and talks website pages.

The social program of events for the year 2026-2027 is still being finalised and will be published here soon.

Please join us on Wednesday 14th of October at 7pm in the Lecture Theater PGMEC City Hospital Campus for our Inaugural Presidential Address by,

Professor Tony Avery OBE, DM, FRCGP, FRCP, FBPS, FRCPharm, MFPH(Hon)

GP at the Valley Surgery Chilwell, Nottingham, Professor of Primary Health Care University of Nottingham, and National Clinical Director for Prescribing.

Tony graduated in medicine from University of Sheffield in 1986, and after house jobs he came to Nottingham to join the Nottingham Vocational Training Scheme for General Practice followed by the Nottingham Community Paediatrics Rotation. He took up an academic post at the University of Nottingham in 1992 alongside a part-time partnership at the Valley Surgery, Chilwell, Nottingham.

At the University of Nottingham, he was very actively involved in medical education in his early years, and his research has focused on prescribing and patient safety where he has led several studies that have had impact on national policies and clinical practice. Tony became a professor in 2002 and has held many leadership positions at the University including Head of the Division of General Practice/Primary Care (1998-2012), Deputy Head of the School of Community Health Sciences (2000-2008), Director of Research for the School of Medicine (2013-2015) and Dean and Head of the School of Medicine (2015-2019).

At the Valley Surgery, Tony has been the lead for prescribing and patient safety for most of his time at the practice. In 2024 he stepped down from being a partner and continues working clinically at the practice on the GP retainer scheme.

Tony took up the role of National Clinical Director for Prescribing for NHS England in 2022 and has provided clinical leadership for implementing recommendations from the 2021 National Overprescribing Review, alongside various other initiatives. He is currently providing clinical leadership for the development and implementation of a Single National Formulary for the NHS in England.

In 2022, Tony was awarded an OBE for services to general practice and has received several other accolades throughout his career including the John Fry Award (RCGP) in 2008, Tony Mitchell Memorial Medal in 2009, James MacKenzie Lecturer Silver Medal (RCGP) in 2016 and NIHR Senior Investigator Award 2018.

In his Presidential Address, Tony will draw upon his research, clinical practice and policy work to address the question ‘Are we prescribing too many medicines?’. He will highlight the vital, and increasing, role that medicines play in improving healthy life expectancy and treating symptoms, while also addressing the problem of overprescribing, particularly for mental health problems, chronic pain, and in older frail people. He will argue that getting the balance right is essential, and that involves listening to what is important to patients and taking account of guidance, but also using common sense when guidance is not always in the best interests of individual patients.

For the link to access meeting via Teams, please click here

You can see the recording of the talk on our YouTube channel once available by clicking here

For any more information please contact admin@medchi.org.uk

Please join us on Wednesday 24th of June for our AGM and an interesting talk.

Further details to follow soon.

For further details please contact admin@medchi.org.uk

Please join us Wednesday 20th of May at 7pm in the Lecture Theater PGMEC City Hospital Campus for a talk by Mr Daniel Sokol, Barrister and Ethicist, BMJ “Ethics Man” Columnist

The Nottingham Medico-Chirurgical Society is delighted to welcome Daniel Sokol, barrister, medical ethicist, and long-standing BMJ columnist, for what promises to be a thought-provoking and highly relevant talk for today’s clinicians.

Drawing on years of experience teaching and advising doctors facing professional, ethical, and medico-legal challenges, Daniel will explore the recurring themes behind clinical difficulties, ethical decision-making, communication failures, professionalism, and reflective practice.

This lecture will be particularly valuable for:

• Consultants and SAS doctors
• GPs and primary care clinicians
• Resident doctors and trainees
• Medical educators and supervisors
• Anyone interested in medical ethics, professionalism, or medico-legal practice

For further details please contact admin@medchi.org.uk