Penny Lewis is a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Division of Pharmacy and Optometry at the University of Manchester and Academic Lead Pharmacist for Research, Manchester University Foundation Trust. Penny is internationally recognised for her expertise and experience in medication safety research and the effective delivery of pharmacy services to improve patient care. Penny actively promotes research engagement and fosters the research ambitions of healthcare professionals, including clinical pharmacists, through her current secondment to the Research Capacity Leadership Team of the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (NIHR ARC_GM). 

Penny is registered pharmacist and Senior Clinical Lecturer. Penny undertook her PhD within the Drug Usage and Pharmacy Practice Group within the Pharmacy School at Manchester and then went on to work as a postdoctoral researcher on the EQUIP study prior to her appointment as Clinical Lecturer in 2010. Penny has extensive practice experience in both hospital and community pharmacy and maintains links with both sectors through her honorary post at Manchester Foundation Trust and her work with the Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Collaborative. As well her pharmacy interests, Penny is passionate about widening participation and has been involved in various school projects as well as being admissions tutor for the foundation year which provides access to the MPharm course to disadvantaged outstanding students.

Penny is currently principal investigator (PI) on an NIHR RfPB funded project which sets out to develop and assess the feasibility of a pharmaceutical care complexity screening tool to target the delivery of hospital clinical pharmacy services.

Penny is also co-applicant on a research project evaluating the Greater Manchester Community Pharmacy Care Plan Service (GMCPCP), a community pharmacist led service that seeks to support patients to achieve their health goals, better manage their long-term conditions and improve their quality of life. The evaluation investigates the impact of the GMCPCP service on a number of patient clinical and process measures, including patient activation (PAM).

Penny was previously PI on a project exploring the causes of errors made by doctors in their second year of foundation training. This work leads on from her previous work on the EQUIP study- this project was commissioned by the General Medical Council and investigated the prevalence and causes of prescribing errors made by FY1 doctors, concentrating on the interplay between doctors’ educational backgrounds and factors in the practice environment. Collaborators on the project included the Manchester Medical School and the Medical school at the University of Liverpool.

Penny has also worked on a project entitled 'Patient Centred professionalism among newly registered pharmacists'. This study was funded by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust; it aimed to understand how professionalism develops in pharmacists’ early career years, and its implications for the delivery of patient-centred care.

Penny’s PhD (awarded in 2007) explored secondary care doctors’ uncomfortable prescribing decisions and the influences upon their decision-making. This qualitative study applied the Critical Incident Technique along with in-depth interviews.  

• MPharm: Unit lead 4th year 'The Pharmacist'
• MPharm: 3rd year Health care policy and governance lecture series
• MPharm: Influences on professional practice workshops
• MPharm: Undergraduate projects
• Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy and Health Services Pharmacy: Unit lead for Foundations of Clinical Pharmacy
• Masters in Clinical Pharmacy: Project supervisor

Dr Mary Tully

Professor Darren Ashcroft

Dr Doug Steinke

Dr Richard Keers

Dr Denham Phipps

Dr Lisa Riste

• Invited member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s ‘Ensuring the safe use of medicines working group’
• General Pharmaceutical Council
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society
   

2019 - Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education 

2015 - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

2007 - PhD in Pharmacy Practice, University of Manchester

2002 - MPharm, Aston University, Birmingham

Penny received a Commended Award from the Associate Vice-President for Social Responsibility for my work with the Greater Manchester Community Pharmacy Patient Safety Collaborative. The Collaborative was set up to identify patient safety priorities, develop solutions and test their impact. Participation by members of the collaborative has resulted in numerous improvements in their community pharmacies some of which have directly improved patient care.

Penny has also received OFFA funding (£1000) to supervise an undergraduate student in developing an in-house activity for Looked After Children and their carers. This project resulted in the delivery of a workshop aimed at introducing higher education and pharmacy as a professional and attainable career option for looked after children.