About Us
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) is one of four CSUs that provide support services in the NHS. The CSU employs over 2,000 staff and includes a range of clinical and non-clinical departments.
Within MLCSU we have a large team providing medicines management and optimisation (MMO) services. The MMO team includes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, administrators, and project managers who work closely together with a range of other CSU departments, including business intelligence, information governance, communications and engagement, Improvement Unit, Transformation Unit, and The Strategy Unit to bring the right solutions and skills for our clients and partners.
To achieve the best outputs from MLCSU we want to understand your needs, problems, and vision so that we can co-design the right solutions and develop innovation. We match the right staffing and resources and use our wide supply chain and partners.
Our delivery is provided using programme management techniques, providing a single lead contact, project plans, risk management, defined quality standards, and highlight reporting to ensure that projects are delivered on time and to a high standard.
Our MMO services have been developed over 10 years to provide a wide range of outputs for the NHS, local authorities, and non-NHS organisations to support patients and we work collaboratively with our partner CSUs to bring seamless national at-scale solutions.
Our services include clinical support for optimising the use of medicines for patients with GP practices and PCNs, at-scale support for the developing Integrated Care Systems including end-to-end transactional systems for prescribing data, formulary, websites, NMPs, rebates, organisational change programmes such as establishing Integrated Medicines Optimisation Groups or Medicines Optimisation Groups. Short-life projects such as formulary harmonisation, establishing processes and governance for PGDs prescribing data and formulary.
We also provide a range of bespoke and partnership projects including service evaluation, implementation, and consultancy projects.
We have a wealth of expertise across the team and our wider departments supported by a strong focus on our staff wellbeing and skills development. We achieve high scores across the 149 questions on the annual NHS staff survey and this delivers high quality and good value services.
Welcome to Our Medicines Management
and Optimisation Senior Leadership Team
Jonathan Horgan
Director of Pharmacy Services
Jonathan Horgan has led the Medicines Management and Optimisation, and Individual Funding Request services since 2013 in NHS commissioning support. Prior to this he has worked across four main sectors; briefly in the pharmaceutical industry and retail pharmacy sectors, and for the majority of his time in hospital and primary care/commissioning. Over 25 years of this experience has been in the NHS. During this time he has held a range of posts in Medicines Optimisation, as well as wider leadership positions including deputising at CSU Board level. He has experience in developing services to reduce health inequalities, is patient focused with service development, and has a good knowledge of the system wide issues that affect patient care.
Jonathan is a registered pharmacist, with a post-graduate Clinical Diploma and a MSc in Health Care and Policy, and the occasional journal publication.
Brent Horrell
Head of Medicines Commissioning, Lancashire Hub
Brent leads the Lancashire Hub Team and is the medicines management and optimisation lead for at scale services, data analytics, finance and budget setting and QIPP planning. Brent was the IPMO Pharmacist Lead for South Cumbria and Lancashire ICS, one of seven vanguard sites nationally and was also the senior pharmacist lead for the Covid-19 pandemic vaccination response in Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Clare Moss
Head of Medicines Optimisation Chorley and South Ribble & Greater Preston
Clare Moss delivers the medicines management and optimisation teams for Chorley and Greater Preston/South Ribble providing professional expertise on wide areas of medicines optimisation. Clare and her team are supporting the Covid-19 pandemic vaccination programme roll out across North West England.
Ravinder Kalkat
Head of Medicines Optimisation (Midlands Region) & Regional Lead for Home Oxygen Services (West Midlands)
Ravinder Kalkat provides expert Medicines Optimisation support to the Midlands Hub team, a range of regional and national projects including the initial NHSE Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) evaluation. He is the Regional Lead for the West Midlands Home Oxygen Service overseeing management and service improvement.
Paula Wilson
Associate Director of Pharmacy Services - Partnerships
Paula provides expert Medicines Optimisation support across Cheshire and Merseyside. She is the lead for the Mersey hub team and the medicines management and optimisation partnerships team with clients across England including overseas governments, Primary Care Networks, NHSEI Pharmacy Integration programme implementation and evaluations and a variety of medicines related at scale projects.
Debbie Lowe
Head of Service – Individual Funding Request & Clinical Policy
Debra (Debbie) Lowe leads the team that delivers the Individual Funding Request (IFR) & Clinical Policy Development service across Northwest England. A well-established IFR and policy development experienced team, with dedicated general practice clinicians, nurses, allied health professionals and public health consultants.
With 30 years NHS experience, Debbie has accumulated diverse commissioning experience at a senior management level, delivering a range of local and regional projects including the production of robust quality and governance frameworks. Awarded as a Health Service Journal (HSJ) 2011 Patient Safety category finalist for her work to improve patient safety culture and reporting within Community Pharmacy.
Most recently, Debbie was instrumental in the development of an effective information management system, ‘IndEx’, a bespoke IFR Case Management solution to support the delivery of a highly effective, efficient, consistent and at scale approach to IFR case management.
Debbie and her team supported the COVID-19 pandemic response providing programme management expertise and staff resources to support the vaccination programme including regional vaccination appointment booking systems and site management. Debbie was also recruited to monitor and report on frontline healthcare service pressures to support the NHS response to the pandemic.