New NPS ceo appointed

NPS MedicineWise has announced the appointment of Steve Morris (pictured) as its new chief executive officer.

Morris joins the organisation from his previous role responsible for the delivery of statewide pharmacy services to the public sector in South Australia, as executive director of SA Pharmacy as well as being chief pharmacist for SA Health.

He also previously worked in the UK as deputy ceo of the National Prescribing Centre, and said the “unique Australian model for driving quality use of medicines has long been admired as the gold standard within international services”.

Morris takes the role vacated at the end of Jun by longstanding NPS ceo Dr Lynn Weekes, who announced her resignation late last year (PD 13 Dec 2017) after two decades leading the organisation since its 1998 establishment as the National Prescribing Service.

“As someone who is passionate about quality use of health technologies and the implementation of evidencebased practice, I jumped at the opportunity to head up NPS MedicineWise,” Morris said.

He hailed the expertise and commitment of the organisation’s staff, particularly during the last few months as NPS adjusts to significant funding cuts by the government (PD 09 May) which reportedly amounted to a 25% reduction.

The 2018 Federal Budget papers said NPS would have “the certainty of a four year funding agreement in return for more efficient delivery of its services”.