The Cannabis Patient Advocacy & Support Services (CPASS) is launching a new groundbreaking, Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) webinar series on medical cannabis for healthcare professionals in the UK.
The Cannabis Patient Advocacy & Support Services (CPASS) series, aimed at nurses and healthcare professionals, is the first of its kind, aiming to bring a more indepth understanding of medical cannabis to the nurse/patient care pathway. This approach is a welcome first for health practitioners in the UK, as medicinal cannabis education expands to reach a more inclusive sector of frontline medics.
Leaders from a multitude of disciplines will come together to provide world-class education on medicinal cannabis over the next 12 months, with each event being structured into two parts – the theory behind the benefits of cannabis medicines within key areas of medicine, and the MDT demonstrating how the theory is put into practice.
World-class medical cannabis education in the UK
Each MDT will feature a specialist consultant, nurse, GP, and pharmacist, all working within the medicinal cannabis field in the UK. Their discussion will illustrate real-world case studies within each of the following areas: pain, mental health, neurology, oncology, women’s health, and palliative care.
Professor Ann Lloyd Keen, RN NDN FQNI FRCN FAAN, Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Health Services, Chair and Co-Founder to CPASS Nurses Arm, said: “I have had the good fortune to practice as a registered nurse for approximately 40 years. At the start of my career, the MDT did not exist. Medical hierarchy ruled the day and nurses were never allowed to consider their views as important, despite their role being vital to how patients manage their symptoms. This culture was wrong for many reasons but most importantly, the patient did not benefit. Over the decades this has changed for the better, now the MDT is the only way to manage quality, safe care with the patient at the centre.
“It is vital therefore, to firmly establish this framework at the very heart of cannabis-based medicine, not only as a way to ensure efficacious and appropriate care for patients, but also to illustrate to healthcare professionals how medical cannabis is and can be prescribed in a real-world setting.”
The aim of the webinar series is to provide practical education for health professionals about the real-life clinical applications of cannabis medicines, however, the sessions will be equally valuable for patients, caregivers, or indeed anyone with an interest in deepening their understanding of how CBMPs can bring symptom relief in a range of indications.
“I first dispensed a cannabis-based medicine in the late 90s, at that point there wasn’t much success in using nabilone for pain. To now work delivering care to patients using cannabis extracts and supporting specialist clinicians puts me at the forefront of using this new therapy in the UK. It’s a privilege to share patient’s journeys with cannabis and it is rewarding to see the exciting developments we will see over the coming years .” added Carl Holvey, Chief Pharmacist, Sapphire Medical Clinics, Private Healthcare Representative, NHS Digital Expert Advisory Committee and CPASS Advisory Board.
The series will end with an event exploring the stigma surrounding these new cannabis medicines and how healthcare professionals may gain a better understanding of them in order to better care for UK patients.
The inaugural webinar, with a focus on pain, will commence on the 25 November, 2020.
Register in advance here. For more information and to join or support this initiative, please visit info@cannpass.org.
