Congratulations to Southern’s Pharmacy team, whose pharmacist-led collaboration with Canberra Health Services has won ‘Best Clinical Poster Presentation’ at the 2025 Canberra Health Annual Research Meeting (CHARM).
Accepted by Dr Ian Marr, Shenea Kennedy and Zeeshan Naseer on behalf of the team from ACT Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith at CHARM’s closing awards dinner, the recognition celebrates a cross-jurisdictional approach to improving health outcomes in remote communities.
The project supports Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) through weekly virtual reviews - linking local pharmacists and prescribers with an ACT-based Infectious Diseases specialist. The program promotes safe, effective use of antibiotics to prevent resistance and preserve life-saving treatments.
In 2024, the team reviewed 1,581 flagged patient cases across 12 facilities and made over 1,200 clinical recommendations. These included optimising therapy, ceasing unnecessary antimicrobials, de-escalation, and case-based education - strengthening both clinical practice and system sustainability.
CHARM is the ACT’s premier health research and innovation event. It is an annual multi-day event connecting researchers, students, clinicians, policy makers, consumers, carers, industry, administrators, leaders and partners in the ACT’s health system.
This is the third major recognition for the team, following the 2025 Keeping People Healthy Award and the ACI Rural Innovation Award for Southern NSW at Southern’s Excellence Awards earlier this month.