Deputy Pharmaceutical Officer, Scottish Government; Head Prescribing & Therapeutics @ScotGov-4 safe appropriate meds: Improve patient outcomes. EU &WHO polypharmacy lead

Alpana is Head of Prescribing and Therapeutics for Scottish Government, coordinating delivery of Programme for Governments work on Prescribing and Therapeutics, advising Ministers on Quality of Prescribing leading and chairing  National Scottish Polypharmacy guidance with multidisciplinary approach. Alpana leads a European funded project SIMPATHY, Simulating Innovation in the Management of Polypharmacy and Adherence in the elderly, leads work for WHO on Polypharmacy for the third Global Patient Safety Challenge , is the Vice Chair of WHO Systems and Practice group on Medication Safety. She also leads the Special Interest Group on Appropriate polypharmacy & Adherence for the Integrated Foundation of Integrated Care (IFIC)  and coordinates  EU work on Active and Healthy Aging on polypharmacy and medications adherence. She is a Quality and Safety fellow and has been awarded funding for street outreach to improve homeless people management of medications and multiple morbidities and runs a clinic for homeless people. Alpana holds a clinical Masters in Clinical Pharmacy and in Advanced Leadership Practice from Harvard/ Napier University. She is Senior lecturer in Prescribing at School of Health and Social Care, Napier University, an honorary lecturer at Strathclyde University, honorary senior lecturer at Robert Gordon University. She was previously the Deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for Scotland.