Dr Sarah Pontefract MPharm, MRPharmS, PgD, PhD

$Dr Sarah Pontefract$

School of Pharmacy
Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Editorial Lead SCRIPT eLearning programme

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0)121 414 8074
Email: s.k.pontefract@bham.ac.uk

Address: Institute of Clinical Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Sarah is a Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics and Editorial Lead for the SCRIPT eLearning programme.

Her research interests focus on patient safety, specifically relating to medication errors, medicines optimisation and the use of electronic patient records. For her PhD, she is investigated the impact of electronic prescribing systems on pharmacist-physician communication in the hospital setting.

Staff details
Policy information

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy
Member of the General Pharmaceutical Council
Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy
Master of Pharmacy

Biography

SCRIPT eLearning programme

Sarah is a registered pharmacist, graduating from Aston University in 2003. In 2007 she gained her Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy at Keele University and worked as a hospital pharmacist in a number of specialities, including paediatrics and older adult mental health.

Sarah is a Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Birmingham. She completed her PhD as a Doctoral Fellow of the National Institute for Health Research. Her research interests focus on patient safety, specifically relating to medication errors, medicines optimisation and the use of electronic patient records

In 2010, Sarah joined the University as the Content and Editorial Manager for the SCRIPT eLearning programme. Commissioned by Health Education England (West Midlands Team), SCRIPT standardises postgraduate education of Foundation trainee doctors, Foundation trainee dentists and paediatric specialist trainees, relating to prescribing and therapeutics. The web-based are available to all trainees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Sarah works with the SCRIPT team and Health Education England to develop content other healthcare professionals, including general practitioners, paramedics and nurses.

Improving prescribing with information technology

Teaching

MPharm
- The Professional Pharmacist (Years 1–4)
MBChB (Year 5)
- Acutely Ill Patient (therapeutics in clinical practice)

Research

Sarah’s research interests focus on patient safety, specifically relating to medication errors, medicines optimisation and the use of electronic patient records. She is also interested in how digitisation of the NHS impacts on interprofessional communication.

Sarah is co-lead on a project with Kurt Wilson at the University of Manchester, to integrate electronic patient records into undergraduate health education.

Other activities

Member of the Clinical Committee of the British Pharmacological Society.
Honorary Pharmacist (University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust).
Education Lead, Centre for Medicinal Cannabis

Publications

Pontefract SK & Wilson K. Using electronic patient records: defining learning outcomes for undergraduate education. BMC Med Educ. 2019 Jan 22;19(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1466-5.
Audi S, Burrage DR, Lonsdale DO, Pontefract S, Coleman JJ, Hitchings AW, Baker EH. The ‘top 100’drugs and classes in England: an updated ‘starter formulary’for trainee prescribers. British journal of clinical pharmacology. 2018 Nov;84(11):2562-71. First published: 05 July 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/bcp.13709
Pontefract SK, Coleman JJ, Vallance HK, Hirsch CA, Shah S, Marriott JF, Redwood S. The impact of computerised physician order entry and clinical decision support on pharmacist-physician communication in the hospital setting: A qualitative study. PloS one. 2018 Nov 16;13(11):e0207450.
Pontefract SK, Hodson J, Slee A, Shah S, Girling AJ, Williams R, Sheikh A, Coleman JJ. Impact of a commercial order entry system on prescribing errors amenable to computerised decision support in the hospital setting: a prospective pre-post study. BMJ Qual Saf. 2018 Sep 1;27(9):725-36.
Omer HM, Hodson J, Pontefract SK, Martin U. Inpatient falls in older adults: a cohort study of antihypertensive prescribing pre-and post-fall. BMC geriatrics. 2018 Dec;18(1):58.
Cornu P, Phansalkar S, Seger DL, Cho I, Pontefract S, Robertson A, Bates DW, Slight SP. High-priority and low-priority drug–drug interactions in different international electronic health record systems: A comparative study. International journal of medical informatics. 2018 Mar 1;111:165-71.
Pontefract SK, Ferner RE. Computerized order entry, clinical decision support, and safer prescribing. Adverse drug reaction bulletin (2017). 305(1); 1179-1182.
King A, Cresswell KM, Coleman JJ, Pontefract SK, Slee A, Williams R, Sheikh A. Investigating the ways in which health information technology can promote antimicrobial stewardship: a conceptual overview. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2017 Aug;110(8):320-9.
Brooks, H. L., Pontefract, S. K., Vallance, H. K., et al. (2016) Perceptions and Impact of Mandatory eLearning for Foundation Trainee Doctors: A Qualitative Evaluation. PLoS ONE, 11 (12): e0168558.
Pontefract SK, Hodson J, Marriott JF, Redwood S, Coleman JJ. Pharmacist-physician communications in a highly computerised hospital: sign-off and action of electronic review messages. PloS one. 2016 Aug 9;11(8):e0160075.
Brown CL, Reygate K, Slee A, Coleman JJ, Pontefract SK, Bates DW, Husband AK, Watson N, Slight SP. A literature review of the training offered to qualified prescribers to use electronic prescribing systems: why is it so important?. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. 2017 Jun;25(3):195-202.
Fox A, Pontefract S, Brown D, Portlock J, Coleman J. Developing consensus on hospital prescribing indicators of potential harm for infants and children. British journal of clinical pharmacology. 2016 Aug 1;82(2):451-60.
Brooks HL, Pontefract SK, Hodson J, Blackwell N, Hughes E, Marriott JF, Coleman JJ. An evaluation of UK foundation trainee doctors’ learning behaviours in a technology-enhanced learning environment. BMC medical education. 2016 Dec;16(1):133.
Seidling HM, Stützle M, Hoppe-Tichy T, Allenet B, Bedouch P, Bonnabry P, Coleman JJ, Fernandez-Llimos F, Lovis C, Rei MJ, Störzinger D. Best practice strategies to safeguard drug prescribing and drug administration: an anthology of expert views and opinions. International journal of clinical pharmacy. 2016 Apr 1;38(2):362-73.
Omer HM, Hodson J, Thomas SK, Coleman JJ. Multiple drug intolerance syndrome: a large-scale retrospective study. Drug safety. 2014 Dec 1;37(12):1037-45.
Coleman JJ, Hodson J, Thomas SK, Brooks HL, Ferner RE. Temporal and other factors that influence the time doctors take to prescribe using an electronic prescribing system. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2014 Jul 29;22(1):206-12.
McIlroy G, Thomas SK, Coleman JJ. Second-generation antipsychotic drug use in hospital inpatients with dementia: the impact of a safety warning on rates of prescribing. Journal of Public Health. 2014 Mar 28;37(2):346-52.
Thomas SK, McDowell SE, Hodson J, Nwulu U, Howard RL, Avery AJ, Slee A, Coleman JJ. Developing consensus on hospital prescribing indicators of potential harms amenable to decision support. British journal of clinical pharmacology. 2013 Nov 1;76(5):797-809.
McDowell SE, Thomas SK, Coleman JJ, Aronson JK, Ferner RE. A practical guide to monitoring for adverse drug reactions during antihypertensive drug therapy. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2013 Mar;106(3):87-119.
Thomas SK, Hodson J, McIlroy G, Dhami A, Coleman JJ. The impact of direct healthcare professional communication on prescribing practice in the UK hospital setting: an interrupted time series analysis. Drug safety. 2013 Jul 1;36(7):557-64.
Nwulu U, Hodson J, Thomas SK, Westwood D, Griffin C, Coleman JJ. Variation in cost of newly qualified doctors’ prescriptions: a review of data from a hospital electronic prescribing system. Postgraduate medical journal. 2013 Jun 1;89(1052):316-22.
Thomas SK, Coleman JJ. The impact of computerised physician order entry with integrated clinical decision support on pharmacist–physician communication in the hospital setting: a systematic review of the literature. European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy: Science and Practice. 2012 Aug 1;19(4):349-54.