About

Steve Williams MPhil, BPharm (Hons) Pharmacist Independent Prescriber , Clin Dip Pharm MRPharmS

Current membership of national organisations / working groups

Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee (South) non-medical prescriber representative

NHS England external reference group on Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice

Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Educatiion (CPPE) Quality Oversight Board

Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) media spokesperson on Medication Safety

Associate Editor of European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (EJHP)

Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) Medicines Optimisation Polypharmacy Indicators group

Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) Over prescribing short life working group

Dorset Integrated Care System Medicines Optimisation Transformation Group

Dorset Medicines Advisory Group

Previous membership of national organisations / working groups

DHSC Modernising Pharmacy Careers working parties (Undergraduate and Postgraduate) 2009-2011

NICE Clinical Guideline: Hyperglycaemia in acute coronary syndromes (CG130) 2011

Healtg Education England (HEE) Building Research Capacity in Pharmacy working party 2013

Haelo / NHS England Medication Safety Thermometer Steering Group member 2014-16

RPS Polypharmacy working group member (2019)

NHS England Primary Care Network Structured Medicines Review service specification group 2019/20

CPPE Executive Operational Board (2010-2020)

National / International platform presentations

Independent Prescribing in Acute Medicine. Society for Acute Medicine Conference . Manchester 2008

Diabetes Mellitus: The role of the pharmacist in the 21st Century. European Pharmacy Students’ Conference . Manchester 2008

Reporting Saves Lives Improving reporting through positive feedback about incidents health care events. Manchester October 2009

All Pharmacy students to graduate as Prescribers from 2020: Perfect Evolution?  Prescribing for Success Conference. Manchester 2010

Patient Safety, the Pharmacist’s role. Clinical Pharmacy Congress. London June 2012

Optimising safe and appropriate medicines use – is your organisation safe enough for patients, let alone your friends and family. Clinical Pharmacy Congress. London 2013

Hospital Pharmacists’ attitudes to reporting Medication Errors. 2nd PSMMC International Pharmacy Conference . Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 2013.

Clinical Priorities for Aseptically Prepared Injections NHS Aseptic Service Managers. Leeds May 2013/14/15

What have we learnt to date? National Medication Safety Thermometer Event. Reebok stadium , Bolton 2014

Academia, NHS & industry – Collaborative approaches to improving patient safety October 2014 B Braun Safety in Infusion Therapy conference. Birmingham October 2014  

Key note at National Medication Safety Officer/ Medical Safety Officers Conference NHSE/MHRA. London Jan 2015

Medication Safety and admissions avoidance: A perspective. Primary Care Pharmacists Asscociation annual conference. London June 2015

What next for Medication Safety in the NHS? Clinical Pharmacy Congress. London June 2015

Shining a light on Medication Safety.  Society for Acute Medicine Conference. Manchester September 2015

What does a NHSE GP pilot Clinical Pharmacist do ? RPS Opportunities for Pharmacists in General Practice. London Feb 2017

Clinical Pharmacists in General Practice – A necessity, not a luxury NHSE General Practice Transformation Champions Event. Birmingham September 2018

Have we got it all wrong? Reflections of an Ex Hospital Consultant Pharmacist now working in General Practice. Pharmacy Together UKCPA / Pharmacy Management conference. London November 2018

Right! It’s your job to improve Medication Safety in the Primary Care Network, off you go ….Clinical Pharmacy Congress. London June 2019

Pharmacist prescribing – from vision to reality- Plenary with Ravi Sharma  (RPS) . 25th Congress of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacy – Hospital Pharmacy 5.0 – the future of patient care. Vienna, Austria March 2021 (virtual)

Media presence

https://twitter.com/stevechemist

BBC Points West TV interview re fatal medication error and manslaughter charge June 2015

NHS Medication Safety Thermometer 2015 

Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education General practice pharmacist training pathway: Case study – Steve Williams Senior clinical pharmacist 2017

Keith Ridge NHS blog – Pharmacists-prescribing-better-care 2018

https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/pharmacists-prescribing-better-care/

NHSE 70 years anniversary general practice vlog 2018 – I’d like to see the clinical pharmacist  

Dorset CCG Medicines Optimisation Dorset Event Jan 2020. A Pharmacist’s Journey- Practice to PCN

Podcast for Ockham Healthcare about the role of Pharmacy

Professionals in Primary Care Networks  

https://ockham.healthcare/podcast-steven-williams-the-role-of-pharmacists-in-general-practice/

The Aural Apothecary Podcast 2021 (co-host)

https://twitter.com/auralapothecary – A light-hearted take on the world of medicines, pharmacy and healthcare in the UK from Jamie, Gimmo and Steve the Chemist

Selected Publications

Williams SD, Rushton S, Cooke J, Isalska B, Hassan I et al. The use of a multidisciplinary, multifaceted team approach to optimising antimicrobial usage at a University Teaching Hospital. Pharmacy World and Science 2005; 27: 3: A21-22

Williams SD, Younis N. Impact of a pharmacist prescriber in a university hospital multidisciplinary diabetic clinic. Diabetic Medicine 2006; 23 (suppl2):95-96

Williams SD, Ashcroft D. Examining patient safety climate in the hospital pharmacy setting: a cross sectional survey. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2008; 16 (suppl3): C43-4

Williams SD, Ashcroft DM. Medication errors: how reliable are the severity ratings reported to the national reporting and learning system? Int J Qual Health Care 2009 21: 316-320

Ashcroft DM, Lewis PJ, Carter E, Taylor D, Tully MP, Wass V, Williams SD, Dornan T . Prevalence, nature and severity of prescribing errors in hospital inpatients: Prospective study in 20 hospitals. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety 2009;18:S1-S273

Hosmane SR, Tucker J, Osman D, Williams SD, Waterworth P. Inpatient Oral Anticoagulation Management by Clinical Pharmacists: Safety and Cost effectiveness. Journal of Clinical Medicine Research 2010;2: 90 – 92

Riaz I, Williams SD.  Impact of a new electronic discharge system on the prevalence of prescribing errors International Journal of Pharmacy Practice 2010;18(S1):22-23

Bowron A, , Williams SD, Younis N, Morris J. Evaluation of a pharmacist independent prescriber in a diabetes clinic. Journal of Diabetes Nursing 2011;15:233

SD Williams, D Ashcroft. Make doctors aware of their prescribing errors. Clinical Pharmacist 2012;4:34

Kongkaew, C., Hann, M., Mandal, J., Williams, SD, Metcalfe, D., Noyce, P. & Ashcroft, D. Risk Factors for Hospital Admissions Associated with Adverse Drug Events. Pharmacotherapy 2013; 33: 827-837.

Williams SD, Ashcroft DA, Phipps DL. Understanding the attitudes of hospital pharmacists to reporting medication incidents: A qualitative study.  Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy 2013; 9: 80–89

Keers, R., Williams, SD, Cooke, J. & Ashcroft, D. Causes of medication administration errors in hospitals: a systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence. Drug Safety 2013; 36:1045-67.

Keers, R., Williams, SD, Cooke, J. & Ashcroft, D. Prevalence and Nature of Medication Administration Errors in Health Care Settings: A Systematic Review of Direct Observational Evidence. Ann Pharmacother 2013; 47: 237-256

Williams SD. Confidence, clarity and simplicity are the key to better medication incident reporting? Br J Clin Pharmacol 2014; 77: 211–212   DOI:10.1111/bcp.12153

Williams SD Is a POMMP approach the way to move the medication safety agenda forward in your organisation? Eur J Hosp Pharm 2015;22:127 doi:10.1136/ejhpharm-2015-000698

Keers RN, Williams SD, Vattakatuchery JJ, Brown P, Miller J, Prescott L, Ashcroft DM. Prevalence, nature and predictors of prescribing errors in mental health hospitals: a prospective multicentre study. BMJ Open. 2014 Oct 1;4(9):e006084

Keers, R., Williams, SD , Cooke, J. & Ashcroft, D (2015). Understanding the causes of intravenous medication administration errors in hospitals: a qualitative critical incident study. BMJ Open 2015 , 5(3), e005948.

Willis E, Williams SD, Baker P. Teaching prescribing skills to foundation trainees: a pilot study evaluating the impact of a prescribing training session for foundation year two doctors Clin Med June 1, 2015 15:s6; doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.15-3-s6

Williams SD, Ashcroft DA, Phipps DL. Examining the attitudes of hospital pharmacists to reporting medication safety incidents using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). International Journal for Quality in Health Care 2015;doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzv044

Ashcroft DM, Lewis PJ, Tully MP, Farragher TM , Taylor D, Wass V, Williams SD, Dornan T. Prevalence, Nature, Severity and Risk Factors for Prescribing Errors in Hospital Inpatients: Prospective Study in 20 UK Hospitals. Drug Safety 2015 DOI 10.1007/s40264-015-0320-x

Williams SD. How safe is IV therapy in your hospital? BJHCM  2015;21(Supp 1): 3–7

Keers RN, Williams SD, Vattakatuchery JJ, Brown P, Miller J, Prescott L, Ashcroft DM. Medication safety at the interface: evaluating risks associated with discharge prescriptions from mental health hospitals. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics 2015, DOI10.1111/jcpt.12328

Lucy McLellan,Tim Dornan, Pippa Newton, Steven D Williams, Penny Lewis, Douglas Steinke and Mary P Tully.Pharmacist-led feedback to junior doctors to increase appropriate prescribing of antimicrobials. J Antimicrob Chemother 2016 doi:10.1093/jac/dkv482

Hickson R, Williams SD, Steinke D, Skitterall C. Evaluation of a Pharmaceutical Assessment Screening Tool (PAST) to measure patient acuity and prioritise pharmaceutical care in a UK hospital. Eur J Hosp Pharm  2015 doi:10.1136/ejhpharm-2015-000829

Katherine J E Saxby, Ruth Murdoch, John McGuinness, Douglas T Steinke , Steven D Williams.Pharmacists’ attitudes towards a pharmaceutical assessment screening tool to help prioritise pharmaceutical care in a UK hospital. Eur J Hosp Pharm 2016 doi:10.1136/ejhpharm-2016-001074

Paryaneh Rostami, Maxine Power, Abigail Harrison, Kurt Bramfitt,  Steven D. Williams, Yogini Jani, Darren M. Ashcroft, Mary P. Tully. Learning from the design, development and implementation of the Medication Safety Thermometer. International Journal for Quality in Health Care 2016 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzw149

Williams SD Medicines Specialist Practitioners – Helping GPs eat the elephant in the room Pharmaceutical Journal (letter) 2016 

Williams SD, Hayes JM, Brad LD.  Clinical pharmacists in general practice: a necessity not a luxury? British Journal of General Practice. Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (667): 85. https://bjgp.org/content/68/667/85

Steve Williams, Lawrence D Brad. Impact of practice based clinical pharmacist led medication reviews on ambulatory patients with hyper polypharmacy. Br J Gen Pract 2018; 68 (suppl1) https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp18X697097

Lawrence Brad , Clare Howard , Steve Williams. Time and pharmacist support in general practice are needed to improve medicines optimisation. BMJ Opinion June 26th 2018 https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2018/06/26/time-pharmacist-support-general-practice-improve-medicines-optimisation/

Williams SD. Listen to your curiosity about how to improve patient care through research. European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy 2019;26:299 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ejhpharm-2019-002085

Williams SD, Hayes JM, Brad LD. Clinical pharmacists within primary care networks: a driver for collaborative general practice BJGP Life June 17^th 2020 https://bjgplife.com/2020/06/17/clinical-pharmacists-within-primary-care-networks-another-driver-for-collaborative-general-practice/

Abuzour A, Steinke D, Tully MP , Williams SD, Shahid M , Hoad-Reddick G ,Lewis PJ. Patient prioritisation for hospital pharmacy services: current approaches in the United Kingdom. European Journal of Hospital doi: 10.1136/ejhpharm-2020-002365 https://ejhp.bmj.com/content/early/2020/11/30/ejhpharm-2020-002365

Meshal A. Alshakrah, Douglas T. Steinke, Mary P. Tully, Aseel S. Abuzour, Steven D. Williams, Penny J. Lewis. Development of the adult complexity tool for pharmaceutical care (ACTPC) in hospital: a modified Delphi study. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1551741121000693

Nadia Farhanah Syafhan, Sayer Al Azzam, Steve Williams, Michael G. Scott, Glenda Flemin, Anita Hogg, Claire Scullin, Robert Horne, Ahir H, James C. McElnay. GP practice-based pharmacist input to medicines optimisation: pragmatic, multicenter, randomised, controlled trial. Submitted to Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice for publication 2021