Finalist
Ensuring balance while enabling CHANGE: Introduction of a novel treatment option for alcohol dependence in the UK
Summary of work
There is a relatively high prevalence of hidden alcohol dependence (AD) among patients presenting with common chronic conditions in primary care, but many GPs lack the knowledge and skills to proactively identify and manage these cases.
Selincro® (nalmefene) was the first treatment licensed to help certain AD patients reduce, rather than abstain from, drinking – an effective and recommended treatment goal for reducing health harms in appropriate patients. Its launch represented a unique and challenging opportunity to present an innovative treatment approach but one that required balance, clarity and responsibility in the way it was communicated, as well as broad education for a range of audiences to facilitate change in the commissioning of alcohol services and management of AD patients.
A programme of activities spanning launch and three HTA milestones saw the development of an innovative, endorsed template integrated care pathway tool to aid local service redesign; high quality and particularly factual media reporting reaching 300+ million (despite high risk of ‘overhype’ or misinterpretation); a series of high impact medical educational events and a wealth of interactive resources in use by field teams to directly educate and demonstrate identification of patients and treatment success to a range of healthcare professionals.
Judges’ comments
A very comprehensive launch programme that built something from scratch. It utilised every aspect of PR and did well with endorsements, achieving its aims and translating smart objectives into tangible outcomes. There is great engagement in evidence with strong stakeholder feedback. The team showed responsibility throughout with consistency, continuity and longevity.
