When 39-year old William (Wim) Northcott died in 2021 in his residential care home, his sister Kate began a determined search for answers. She discovered that Wim’s prescribed medication, clozapine, had materially contributed to his death. Over the next three years, Kate investigated widespread failures in clozapine monitoring, culminating in her findings being published in The Times in January 2024.
Refusing to let Wim’s death pass without meaningful change, Kate worked with the Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and collaborated closely with the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr Lade Smith and her team. Together, they developed ‘Wim’s protocol’, a new approach to safer clozapine monitoring.
In this episode, you’ll hear directly from the experts behind this groundbreaking protocol. They will:
- explore the drivers and impact of preventable clozapine-related deaths
- outline how carers can support loved ones who take clozapine
- introduce the key elements of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ new safety guidance, and
- discuss the future of clozapine monitoring, including potential changes to blood-test frequency.
Learning objectives
By the end of this podcast, you should be able to:
- identify the impact and drivers of preventable deaths of patients that are taking clozapine
- recognise how carers can support their loved ones to take clozapine safely
- clarify what will be covered in the new Royal College of Psychiatrists’ protocol for safe prescribing of clozapine
- recognise what the future of clozapine monitoring looks like, including changes to the frequency of blood monitoring.
Availability
We are pleased to offer this podcast free for those without a paid subscription. If you are a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, you can log in straight away using the same username and password with which you access the members' area of the College website. Otherwise, all you need to do is register with the College.
