Interview with our platinum sponsor: Roche

As we deliver Raising the Bar for MS 2020, this year's conference for the national programme to 'raise the bar' for all those living with MS and the healthcare professionals supporting them, we interviewed our platinum sponsor for the event.

Ouali Omani, UK Squad Lead - MS from Roche, spoke about Roche's ethos for patients to get better outcomes, faster - not just through medications but through our entire healthcare system. He also emphasised Roche's enthusiasm at being able to join with the whole MS community to raise the bar for MS, in a truly collaborative way.

From supporting 'Raising the Bar' as a meeting, to collaborating in impactful tool development, and investing in people's potential to lead, Roche's staff are part of the national workforce seeking to raise the bar for people with MS.

'We have supported the meetings since the beginning in 2018 - these events bring such a variety of people together from across the MS space,' Ouali explained. 'It felt like a real opportunity to address variance, to improve outcomes in MS.'

After last year's meeting, the audit and data workstream began exploring the development of a data dashboard. Working in a partnership with the workstreams' lead clinicians and IQVIA, Roche's data experts have been instrumental in creating the interactive Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data dashboard being unveiled at the conference next week.

'It's been a real exchange of skills and capabilities,' said Ouali, 'and the dashboard will enable MS services to understand how they can reconfigure and improve - and it can help them build business cases for change.'

Not only sharing the vision of Raising the Bar, and co-creating a much needed tool, Roche has also invested in the people who will be essential in using these tools to realise that vision.

'I know how much our industry has benefited from regular leadership training opportunities. I'm delighted that NHS clinicians can now access this same support', Ouali noted. To be able to support the MS Leader's Academy and give clinicians the opportunity to take some space and time to develop their skills and abilities so that they lead with confidence felt like a bold step for Roche, and one they were proud to take.

'MS Leaders doesn't directly affect any medication. It does, however, inspire change, and ultimately improve outcomes', said Ouali. 'We're so pleased to be involved, to give clinicians the opportunity and framework they need.'

MS Academy would like to thank Roche for being our platinum sponsor this year, and for their commitment to our shared goal to raise the bar for people living with MS, and by extension, the whole MS community.