Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, Pond St, London NW3 2QG

Project Name: Provision of Pharmacist to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Service at The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Project Summary: 

The aim of this Collaborative Working Project (CWP) is to recruit one full time equivalent (FTE) Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Pharmacist to support the Trust MS service with management, review, and follow up of MS patients. 

This resource will help address staff shortages and backlog of patients currently being experienced by the Trust all of which contributes to the delay in time from treatment decision for MS patients to treatment initiation.

Integrating the MS Pharmacist into all aspects of the MS service, this CWP aims to:

• provide triaging and screening resource to review referrals and provide recommendations at multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings;
• improve patient outcomes and experience by reducing time between referral, diagnosis, and treatment, and increasing awareness of the MS pathway.
• empowering MS patients in the care of the Royal Free Hospital;
• supporting the pharmacist team with management of patient databases

Planned Milestones:

Expected Benefits:

Anticipated benefits to patients:

• Improved patient outcomes due to faster time from referral to treatment time;
• Improved access to NICE recommended therapy;
• Enhanced patient experience of the NHS MS service by reducing unnecessary waiting times.

Anticipated benefits to the organisation:

• Improved quality of care;
• Reduction in patient waiting lists;
• Improved MDT efficiency and outcomes;
• Improved experience of staff by spreading workload
• Increase in Clinical Nurse Specialist appointment activity.
• Increase in Pharmacist activity

Anticipated benefits to Novartis;

• Learnings relating to the involvement of MS Pharmacists at MDTs;
• Better understanding of overall customers’ and patients’ needs;
• Optimal use of medicines (including Novartis medicines) in appropriate patients.

Start Date & Duration: February 2024 for 22 months

UK2402146930

Project Name: Provision of Pharmacist to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Service at The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Organisation(s): Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Completion Date: April 2026

Outcome Summary: 

A collaborative working project funded a 1.0 FTE Band 8b MS clinical pharmacist for 18 months to address MS service capacity constraints and delays to disease-modifying treatment (DMT) initiation. The role increased outpatient review capacity, supported medicines management and pathway improvements, and reduced average time from treatment decision to initiation. Project objectives were delivered within the context of wider service pressures, including administrative capacity constraints and delayed clinic setup during early milestones. 

The outcomes provide data to inform local consideration of role continuation beyond the CWP period.

Key Project Outcomes Data: 

Key outcomes data (baseline data collected 1 May–31 July 2024; MS pharmacist commenced 1 August 2024; outcomes reported over 18 months):

• Outpatient reviews (MS pharmacist + CNS): average +20% vs baseline (range 6–32%).
• Increased number of patients initiating NICE‑approved DMTs compared with baseline, including treatment‑naïve patients and clinically appropriate switches.
• Average time from treatment decision to initiation: reduced by ~58% (baseline 120 days; subsequent milestones typically ~51–77 days). Measured from clinical decision to first treatment administration.
• CNS capacity released via pharmacist activity: 770 outpatient / day-unit reviews delivered over 18 months (appointments the CNS did not need to undertake).
• Clinic model delivered: up to 11 MS pharmacist telephone clinic appointments (from Nov 2024), with additional consultant-led clinics supported (3 mornings/month) and ad-hoc reviews as required.
• Patient feedback: satisfaction scores remained stable across the project (from “very satisfied” to “excellent”); MS pharmacist consultations were consistently rated “excellent” (survey data collected at multiple milestones).

Outcomes: 

• Improved capacity and resilience of the MS service: increased outpatient review activity (MS pharmacist + CNS) and released CNS time (770 appointments over 18 months) to focus on other MS clinical tasks and service pressures.
• Improved access to NICE-approved treatment: increased the number of patients initiating MS DMTs (+36% on average vs baseline), supporting timely access to therapy.
• Reduced delays in the pathway: shortened time from treatment decision to initiation (~58% reduction vs baseline), supported by proactive pharmacist-led clinics and follow-up.
• Patient experience maintained: overall satisfaction remained stable (“very satisfied” to “excellent”), with MS pharmacist consultations consistently rated “excellent” in milestone surveys and qualitative feedback.
• Medicines optimisation and governance strengthened: pharmacy input supported Blueteq processes and documentation, prescribing plans/care plans, DMT pathway mapping to identify bottlenecks, formulary/guideline updates, and medicines management within the MS MDT.
• More structured pharmacy support embedded: introduction of regular pharmacist telephone clinics (up to 11 appointments/week from Nov 2024) and consultant-led clinic support (3 mornings/month) created a repeatable model for ongoing service delivery.

Conclusion: 

• The funded MS pharmacist role increased MS service capacity and contributed to improved access and reduced delays to starting MS DMTs, demonstrating measurable impact against baseline.
• Embedding specialist pharmacy expertise within the MS MDT supported a sustainable clinic model (regular pharmacist-led telephone clinics plus consultant clinic support) while maintaining a high-quality patient experience.
• The project delivered wider medicines optimisation benefits (e.g., Blueteq support, prescribing documentation, formulary/guideline updates and pathway mapping), strengthening governance and identifying system bottlenecks for continued improvement.
• The Trust is continuing to explore the routes for sustainable service delivery at the end of the project. At time of writing, this has yet to be concluded however, the outcomes and learnings of the project are key to service planning and future service developments.

FA-11739144 | July 2026