The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Team’ s award for palliative care initiative
ADundee team who developed a phone application that supports healthcare providers to prescribe medication safely to patients receiving palliative care have received a top award.
The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool (SPOT) app has been awarded the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSED) Dundas Medal for 2022.
The accolade, introduced by RCSED and the Scottish charity PATCH, aims to recognise the efforts made to improve palliative care for patients in hospital.
The SPOT app allows for medics to safely covert between different types of opioids, reducing the risk of over or under-dosing.
The initiative was founded by Dr Roger Flint, a Dundee University graduate, and developed in collaboration with colleagues from the university’s School of Medicine.
The idea emerged following Dr Flint’s own difficult experience as a junior doctor at Ninewells Hospital.
When working as a junior doctor, Dr Flint was asked to change the type of pain relief medication for a patient receiving end-of-life care, however as a new doctor who was not confident in his calculations, the patient had to wait some time before receiving pain relief.
“The experience has haunted me ever since,” commented Dr Flint.
“It seemed absurd that in the time of apps to book flights and order a taxi there was not an equivalent to help prescribers in this situation.
“SPOT enables clinicians to independently and remotely double-check their opioid conversions safely, quickly and conveniently at the patient’s bedside, whilst providing access to nationally adopted bestpractice Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines.”
The app was designed and developed as a result of research led by the university’s School of Medicine.
Professor Jacob George, who is the academic lead for SPOT, received the Dundas Medal at an awards ceremony alongside others on the team.
“Receiving the Dundas Medal is further recognition of the innovation that has come from the School of Medicine in solving a real-world clinical problem,” said Prof George.
“It is a huge patient safety advance in opioid prescribing.”