028 Gayle Campbell
On today's episode I am super excited to introduce a senior cardiovascular pharmacist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) and creator of the MedTap App, Gayle Campbell. I saw the MedTap App advertised at the hospital on one of the TV screens last year. I was so excited that a pharmacist had launched an innovative platform that supports patients to take their medications correctly that I reached out to her on email immediately. Here we are today having an interesting discussion about Gayle's career as well as the story behind developing the app.
Gayle started her pharmacy career as a resident pharmacist at GSTT in 2010. She completed 3 years of residency before she embarked on her journey as a specialist cardiovascular pharmacist, with special interest in heart failure.
As a lot of us already know, non-adherence in the UK is well documented nationally with patients not taking their medications as directed on a regular basis. In this interview, Gayle explains how the development of digital technology has changed the way people access their information and together with a drive towards paperless working, she felt the logical next step was to develop a digital platform for patients to access medicine information.
MedTap features videos with NHS clinicians providing similar information to what patients would hear in their consultations. This helps to prompt patients about medications, strengthening their understanding on how and when to take them appropriately. Videos are available for medicines post a heart attack and for direct action oral anticoagulants in atrial fibrillation providing answers to common medication questions such as when and how to take pills, what to do about side effects, how to re-order more pills and the cost. Users can record their medicines, appointments and test results to help improve self-management of their care.
Talking to Gayle inspired me to pursue some innovative and digital focused ideas I have for paediatric patients at the Evelina London Children's Hospital. One of my favourite quotes from today's episode was...
"If you truly believe in an innovative idea, keep pushing forward, even when it seems like nothing will come of it. Perhaps you'll get a lot of rejection in the process, but if you truly believe it is worthwhile and good for patient care, then keep going!"
You can follow Gayle and MedTap on the following social media:
Instagram @gaylelcampbell
Twitter @GayleLCampbell
LinkedIn @Gayle Campbell
MedTap App on App Store
MedTap App on Google Play
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