Dr Richard Bourne is a clinical-academic pharmacist specialising in critical care for 25 years. He has been a NHS Consultant Pharmacist in critical care since 2009. Richard is currently a NIHR Senior Clincial and Practitioner Researcher and recently completed a HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Clinal Lectureship.

Richard has represented pharmacy on several regional, national and international groups. For 6 years he was the pharmacy lead to the NHS England Adult Critical Care Clinical Reference Group and is currently the Consultant Pharmacist on the NIHR Critical Care National Specialty Group. He is deputy chair of the Pharmacy Sub-Committee of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM). Richard is also a  member of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy Group where he is a member of the ESICM Patient Safety Training and Research Taskforce.

He is an active member in the Adult Critical Care Pharmacy Leadership Forum (ACCPLF), working with UK colleagues nationally to ensure clinical pharmacists are recognised as integral to safe and quality care of the critically ill patient.  

Richard’s research focus is medicines optimisation (safety and quality of medicines use) in the critically ill patient. He is also interested in the development of the clinical pharmacy workforce within critical care areas and understanding burnout risks and mitigation in clinical pharmacists working in acute care areas.

He recently completed a HEE/NIHR Integrated-Clinical Academic Clinical Lectureship, undertaking research to identify and develop a medication-related intervention, to improve medication safety for intensive care patients surviving to transition to a hospital ward. Richard is currently developing this research area to progress improvements in the recovery of patients after a critical illness through medicines optimisation interventions as part of a NIHR Senior Clinical and Parctitioner Research Award (SCPRA).