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Trinity College Dublin and Boots (Ireland) sign Memorandum of Understanding

Boots MOU

Front Row (L to R): Bernadette Lavery, Managing Director of Boots Ireland; Professor Chris Morash, Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Trinity College Dublin.
Back Row (L to R): Caoimhe McAuley, Superintendent Pharmacist, Boots Director of Pharmacy (ROI); Professor Mary McCarron, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences; Professor Anne Marie Healy, Head of School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Thursday 7th September 2017, Dublin. Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Boots Retail (Ireland) Limited signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), formalising an academic and research link between Boots and TCD that has spanned nearly twenty years.

Speaking at the signing, Professor Chris Morash, Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Trinity College Dublin said, “When I took up the VP/CAO role in Trinity College Dublin one of the first things I did was to look for inspiration around Campus. This is when I came across the replica Boots pharmacy in the heart of the Pharmacy building! There was something magical about it and completely unexpected. When people ask me for examples of ways in which the University can partner with Industry in a manner that, above all, helps our students, I try to conjure up for them that perfect little pharmacy, as well as the overall partnership between the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Boots. For Trinity College Dublin, this collaboration can stand as a model of the way in which a reciprocal relation between the University and our partners in Industry can work, not only for our mutual benefit, but to make the society in which we live a better place. Together, the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Boots have already researched and developed several initiatives to improve the care of patients and to increase the accessibility of health services, such as Smoking Cessation and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Measurement. Most recently, in the field of respiratory disease, this research collaboration will soon bear fruit, not only in the form of a Ph.D. but also in a new and valuable product.”

Managing Director of Boots Ireland, Ms Bernadette Lavery said, “We are here today to mark the first Memorandum of Understanding between a School of Pharmacy in Ireland and a community pharmacy organisation. This Memorandum of Bernadette LaveryUnderstanding recognises the longstanding collaboration between Boots and the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. By signing this we are growing our relationship to support undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy education and working for the provision of excellence in patient care. This allows us to develop CPD and further the community pharmacy research agenda. All of this is of crucial importance to Boots, to Trinity and to the students. Boots values the education of pharmacists and the great work that Trinity do to push the education of pharmacists forward in to the future. Boots collaborates with the School of Pharmacy to ensure the quality education of pharmacists, through the provision of the teacher practitioner role and the Boots lab and model pharmacy in the university.
The official recognition of this relationship is the first step in strengthening the relationship between students and community pharmacy, ensuring the future of community pharmacy and patient care is strong. Pharmacy is at the heart of our company and patient centred care is core to this. We look forward to working together now and in the future to improve the provision of care which community pharmacy can offer patients.”

Ms Caoimhe McAuley, Superintendent Pharmacist, Boots Director of Pharmacy (ROI) said, “As the Superintendent of Boots Ireland I am very proud that Boots is the first Community Pharmacy to officially enter into a partnership of this kind with a School of Pharmacy as respected as the one here in Trinity College. The development of pharmacists, who are excellent ambassadors for the profession and dedicate their working lives to improving health outcomes for patients and the health service is a mission shared by both Boots and Trinity. Core to this is a solid foundation in clinical knowledge, practice of pharmacy, critical decision making and communication skills. And we are very proud that our Boots Teacher Practitioner, as a core member of the practice of pharmacy team, supports the teaching and learning of pharmacy undergraduates in these areas in collaboration with the wider team here in the School. It is through such collaborative relationships that we work to shape the undergraduate programme to ensure it meets the diverse needs of our pharmacy students in their career of choice, and equips them the skills they need to practice as competent and confident pharmacists within their profession. The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding here today recognises the long standing partnership that we have developed and serves as a commitment to sustaining and developing this partnership into the future. We are very proud of the research that has been conducted in the School on areas such as cardiovascular disease, smoking cessation on medication adherence and we hope to develop this work into the future.”

Explaining the meaning of this relationship for TCD, Professor Anne Marie Healy, Head of School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, said, “The MoU underpins the strong collaboration that has existed between the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Boots for quite a number of years, and clearly sets out our commitment to our partnership and to working together as we go forward. In the eyes of the public, the name “Boots” is synonymous with pharmacy in Ireland, but to those of us in the School who have engaged with Boots over the years, the name has also become synonymous with high quality, practice-based education and competency development. Seven years ago in June 2010, the then Minister of Health, Mary Harney, opened the Boots Practice of Pharmacy Teaching and Development Unit. Now, this still state-of-the-art facility, which was sponsored by Boots, continues to be an invaluable resource for Practice of Pharmacy Teaching and Learning in our School, as well as the envy of other academic pharmacy institutions both close to home and further afield.
Our relationship with Boots has also been about research and development. Cardiovascular Health Screening, Weight Control, Smoking Cessation and Ambulatory Blood Pressure management have all been joint projects at one stage or another. All of them have been presented at national and international conferences, with many winning awards for the presentation.
We are proud to sign this MOU with Boots and look forward to using it as the basis for expanding and deepening our productive partnership.”

Boots MOU Representatives from Boots Ireland along with representatives from the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, together with the Vice-Provost, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Managing Director of Boots Ireland.