Chair: Susan Kafka
Secretary: Mairi Dunbar

Past chairs: Margaret Dolan (1994 – 1999); James Wallace (1999- 2011); Steve Bowhay (2011 – 2019); Claire O’Brien (2019 – 2022): Marie Stewart (2022-2025)

The Scottish Neonatal And Paediatric Pharmacists group (SNAPP) was formed in February 1994 by the Chief Pharmacist for Scotland Bill Scott. Following a Scottish Office Home and Health Department letter on the Safe Use and Control of Medicines in Paediatrics he felt that this group would have a role to play in ensuring policies and procedures were in place in all hospitals to ensure the safe use of medicines in this particular patient group.

The aim of the group is  ‘To improve the quality of Pharmaceutical care for neonatal and paediatric patients through communication, education, practice, research and audit’

The group has run a national pre-registration pharmacist study for paediatrics each year since 1999, recently in collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland. Working with NES they have also produced the distance learning pack below, which has been circulated worldwide.

The group has worked to standardise strengths of liquids used in paediatrics in Scotland and with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme to work towards reducing medication errors in children

In 2002 the group worked with National Procurement in Scotland to create a standard neonatal parenteral nutrition solution which was made available on a national purchasing contract. This bag has subsequently developed in line with emerging evidence on the subject.

Since 2008 the group has worked with the Scttish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to assess the suitability of new medicines for use in paediatrics in Scotland

The ongoing work of the group falls into three broad categories:

The group meets four times a year and recently held its 105th meeting.

Terms of reference (June 2019)