THE Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) has named Associate Professor Ian Coombes as the recipient of Fred J Boyd Award, acknowledging his passion and dedication for practitioner growth, pharmacy research and developing leading pharmacy services.
The presentation was made at a ceremony during Medicines Management 2018, the 44th SHPA National Conference, in Brisbane.
In awarding the prize, outgoing SHPA President Professor Michael Dooley (left in picture) celebrated the influence and broad reach of Coombes' vision and leadership.
"Ian's passion and commitment to improving the care of patients and developing the pharmacy workforce has been instrumental in the growth of our profession.
"He has led many innovations in practice that have resulted in the introduction of many impactful, nationwide initiatives and has been instrumental in Australia now recognising advancing practice of pharmacists."
During his PhD research investigating the cause and prevention of prescribing errors, Coombes has seen the adoption of a National Inpatient Medication chart which has led to a significant reduction in medication prescribing and administration errors across the country, Dooley said.
Coombes is Director of Pharmacy at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, a former SHPA Board Director and recipient of the 2003 SHPA Australian Clinical Pharmacy Award, 2010 Medal of Merit and the 2017 SHPA Qld Branch William Harris Award.
In what was described as an "entertaining and broad-ranging oration", Coombes urged his 1,200-strong Medicines Management audience to "let go of things that hold you back".
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