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Dr Roger Flint awarded a prestigious Harvard HealthTech Fellowship.

In 2016, PATCH was the first organisation to fund Dr Flint in the development of his SPOT (Safer Prescribing of Opioids Tool) software as a medical device app.

He has worked tirelessly to develop this achieving funding along the way from Lippen Care, Scottish Enterprise and Innovate UK.

He has published, in collaboration with a small group of scientist, researchers and clinicians, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [1] and the Tayside Courier; presented at the centre of Advanced Palliative Care in the States, on BBC Radio and BBC the Nine [2]. 

SPOT has been cited by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care in Every Story’s Ending [3] as a recommended resource for prescribers. It has been recommended to the Scottish Government as a funding priority as part of their national palliative care strategy [4]. SPOT is published by Class Professional Publishing [5].

Most recently he has been awarded a prestigious Harvard HealthTech Fellowship which will enhance his future practice as a UK GP, particularly in medical leadership, innovation and patient safety.

SPOT supports prescribers to double-check their conversions of one strong morphine-like painkiller to another, at the patient’s bedside in palliative and end-of-life settings. It is the first such clinically validated opioid prescribing support tool available. It is in use in the Scottish Borders [6] and can be purchased through Class publishing.

References and footnotes

  1. Flint, R.; Buchanan, D.; Jamieson, S.; Cuschieri, A.; Botros, S.; Forbes, J.; George, J. The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool (SPOT): A Novel Clinical Decision Support Digital Health Platform for Opioid Conversion in Palliative and End of Life Care—A Single-Centre Pilot Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1926. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16111926

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  2. End-of-life pain relief phone app trialled at Melrose care unit | BBC News, 14 Jun 2019.

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  3. Every Story's Ending | Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, report [Accessed 2 Mar 2022]

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  4. Coronavirus (COVID-19): palliative care toolkit | Scottish Government [Accessed 2 Mar 2022]

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  5. SPOT: The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool | Class Professional Publishing [Accessed 2 Mar 2022]

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  6. Supporting Opiod Prescription in NHS Borders: SPOT - The Safer Prescription of Opioids Tool 

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