Professor Tony Avery

Professor Tony Avery, OBE, is a GP, and Professor of Primary Health Care at the University of Nottingham. He is also National Clinical Director for Prescribing and a National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator.He is passionate about ensuring the safe, effective and appropriate use of medicines and has worked in partnership with healthcare professionals and patients over 30 years to drive forward research and policy development in prescribing and patient safety.He has led several major studies investigating the frequency, nature and causes of prescribing safety problems in the NHS. He has also developed effective methods for tackling hazardous prescribing, most notably the pharmacist-led, IT-based intervention called PINCER, which has now been rolled out nationally to general practices in England.As National Clinical direct for Prescribing, Tony is providing clinical leadership to implement recommendations from the National Overprescribing Review, which recognises the vital role medicines have in people’s lives while aiming to prevent overuse and waste.