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The new data from NHS England has revealed that more than 100,000 patients were treated for minor illness by their high street pharmacist in just one month. According to new NHS figures, in June, 118,123 people with minor illnesses such as a sore throat or constipation, or those in need of medicine urgently, received a same-day consultation with their local pharmacist after calling NHS 111 or their GP practice - an increase of more than four-fifths (83%) on the number in the same month last year (64,512). The data comes alongside expanded roles for community pharmacies ahead of winter, announced at the NHS England board meeting today. "From this week, NHS 111 online can directly refer people to their high street pharmacist for a same-day consultation, rather than patients needing to call the phone line," said NHS England. Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, said: "Our local pharmacies ensure hundreds of thousands of people every week get the support and medication they need and today's figures show that in just one month, over 100,000 patients have also had consultations with their local pharmacist for minor illnesses - this means patients are getting the care they need quickly but also in a convenient way that can fit in with their busy lives.

The government has unveiled its much awaited 'NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan' to tackle the staff shortage in the pharmacy sector. The plan set out an ambition to increase the training places for pharmacists to around 5,000 places by 2031/32. David Webb, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, in his open letter to pharmacy professionals said: "The NHS LTWP sets out how we can build on changes, addressing the changing needs of patients over the next 15 years, by closing the current workforce shortfall through funding for increased education and training places and a comprehensive retention strategy." The plan commits to expand training places for pharmacists by 29% to around 4,300 by 2028/29 and Grow the number of pharmacy technicians in future years. "The development of independent prescribing as part of initial education and training is a gamechanger for pharmacists, patients and the NHS, with approximately 2,800 newly registered pharmacist independent prescribers due to join the workforce every year from September 2026," said Webb. "This will be transformational for all pharmacy teams, creating improved access and quality of care for patients and, importantly, a more flexible workforce with skills that are equally applicable in all pharmacy settings, enabling multi-professional clinical teams to work in new ways."

Community pharmacists in England have launched a new digital platform called My Local Surgery, enabling patients to access Pharmacy First consultations online. This initiative, a part of the NHS Pharmacy First scheme, facilitates free video consultations for six common conditions, connecting patients with community pharmacists for clinical advice and treatment. The platform, spearheaded by a team of pharmacy, tech, and clinical services experts, including experienced community pharmacists Darren Lingaloo and Gulraj Dhillon, tech specialist Nav Ramiah, and Dr. Adam Kirk, a seasoned NHS and digital healthcare professional, seeks to meet the rising demand for clinical services. Darren Lingaloo, co-founder and chief pharmacist at My Local Surgery, said: "The evolving role of pharmacists is long overdue and has the potential to save millions of GP appointments every year.

Boots UK's chief pharmacist has been encouraging people to get a flu vaccination by the end of November to help protect themselves, their loved ones and the NHS this festive season. Flu cases in the UK are usually highest in the winter months, from December to March. This year, the UK has seen a rise in cases earlier than usual, and therefore Claire Nevinson, superintendent pharmacist at Boots, reminds people that it is even more important to get protected early to help reduce the risk of spreading the virus due to increased mixing at Christmas parties and family get togethers. Approximately 33 million people are eligible for the free NHS flu jab, including those over 50 years of age, pregnant women and those with medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. The pharmacy multiple says it offers the winter flu jab service, which is suitable for those eligible for the free NHS flu jab as well as privately, adding that it has already administered over one million flu vaccinations this season. Ms Nevinson explains: "December is a time to get together with friends and family to celebrate the month's festivities. It's a good idea to plan ahead to ensure you have your flu jab, and your COVID-19 booster vaccination if you are eligible, if you've not had them already, this the best way to protect yourself and reduce the risk of passing the viruses to others.

The Company Chemist Association (CCA) highlighted its concerns around the recruitment of pharmacists into Primary Care Networks as well as the need for additional investment. Commenting on the Ipsos survey findings, the Malcolm Harrison, the Chief executive of the CCA said: "We welcome the findings of the Ipsos survey, confirming that patients value the quality of service and advice community pharmacies routinely provide. "We are very concerned however that this cancer detection pilot, and all other pharmacy services, are at risk if the NHS is not prepared to inject urgently needed funding into the sector." He stated that without substantial investment, "we will see the continued erosion of the service pharmacies can provide." In addition to the need for critical additional funding the association is also calling on the NHS to pause the recruitment of pharmacists into GP surgeries. He said: "Patients are suffering because the demand for pharmacists in England is now significantly greater than that which the existing workforce can deliver."

David Webb has been appointed as the new chief pharmaceutical officer (CPO) for England. He will take over from Dr Keith Ridge who steps down next month after serving the role for sixteen year. Webb is currently chief pharmacist and clinical director for pharmacy and medicines optimisation at Guy's and Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, London. Sharing the news of his appointment on Twitter on Friday afternoon (January 7), he said he was "really delighted and honoured" to be named the CPO for NHS England and that he was as the appointed Chief Pharmaceutical officer for "looking forward to working with pharmacy leaders, colleagues & teams across all sectors from February." He also extended his gratitude to the outgoing CPO for his "outstanding contribution" who, in turn, congratulated Webb and said it was "an honour to be handing over to him". In the same message, Dr Ridge thanked "all the great people I've worked with over the last 16 years for your support, friendship, good humour, great ideas & challenge. I wish you all well for the future."

Northern Ireland's chief pharmaceutical officer paid a visit to a community pharmacy in Belfast on Monday (November 7) - marking the end of this year's Ask Your Pharmacist week, an annual public awareness campaign launched by the National Pharmacy Association. Cathy Harrison interacted with patients and staff in the pharmacy before recording a video to promote NI's 'Pharmacy First' service in which she described community pharmacies as "one of the front doors to the health service" with over 500 outlets located across the country. "In our community pharmacies you can always rely on friendly staff, medicines expertise, and walk-in access to face-to-face advice," she said. First launched in Scotland, the NHS Pharmacy First service enables patients to have a consultation with a pharmacist for advice on minor ailments. Ms Harrison also drew attention to community pharmacy's role in cancer awareness and helping people to quit smoking, as well as managing patients with urinary tract infections, in addition to playing their part in delivering Covid-19 and flu vaccinations.

Boots UK in association with Macmillan Cancer Support and the NHS has launched a Palliative Care Service in its pharmacies to provide easy access to vital medicines and specialist pharmacist advice and support to patients. As part of the new service, Boots has created a list of recommended medicines most used by terminally ill patients. It has committed to maintain stock of these medicines, or formulary, at over 2,000 of its pharmacies with an NHS contract. To further support the launch of the new service, all 4,200 Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists (BMIP) have received additional training on palliative care, including a range of cancer-related advice and side effects of medication. Marc Donovan, chief pharmacist at Boots said: "Discussing end-of-life care is never easy, but it is very important. At this extremely difficult time for patients and their families and carers, ease of access to medicines and support can make a big difference.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard joined over 17 million people in England by taking her Covid-19 booster dose on Monday (December 6) whilst encouraging people to take their top-up jab. The NHS boss got a dose in each arm as she also received her flu vaccine from pharmacist Bhaveen Patel at the Junction Pharmacy in Brixton. Pritchard later posted a video on Twitter, thanking the team in the south London community pharmacy. Ahead of the first anniversary of the NHS delivering the first Covid-19 vaccine in the world on Wednesday (December 8), Pritchard thanked the "incredible efforts" of NHS staff and volunteers who worked hard to protect millions of people. Almost 100 million jabs have been delivered in England since December 8, 2020, including over 17 million booster vaccines. Expressing her delight after taking the booster dose, Pritchard said: "The booster jab was quick, easy and I now have extra protection against the virus."

Shortage of pharmacists remains a big challenge for community pharmacies as the chief executives of the national community pharmacy bodies met with senior NHS England and NHS Improvement officials to discuss the precarious situation in October-end. In the last few months, several pharmacy contractors have reported increased staff shortages that caused difficulties in maintaining services, leading to temporary closures in some instances. The sector is also facing chronic shortage of other staff including van drivers and pharmacy technicians. During the meeting, NHS England's director for primary care, Ed Waller, and chief pharmaceutical officer Keith Ridge held talks with leaders from across the pharmacy sector on a variety of topics.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has announced the names of five new members who will be joining its governing Council over the next two years. The new council members are: Professor Dianne Ford, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University. Gareth Powell, a chartered accountant and a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Port of Milford Haven, the UK's largest energy port. Adeyemi (Ade) Williams MBE, Superintendent Pharmacist and Director of the M J Williams Pharmacy and lead Pharmacist at the Bedminster Pharmacy, Bristol. Tim Jaggard, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Raliat Onatade, Chief Pharmacist and Director of Medicines and Pharmacy for North-East London Integrated Care System. Professor Ford, Powell and Williams will begin their terms on 1 April 2024, replacing Jo Kember, Mark Hammond and Arun Midha.

The Department of Health has published 'A Guide to Developing the Role of Consultant Pharmacists' in Northern Ireland on Thursday (22 June). The guidance provides direction on supporting a consistent approach to the introduction of senior clinical pharmacy roles within and across HSC organisations. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Professor Cathy Harrison said: "There is a recognised need for increased clinical pharmacy and medicines focussed leadership across our HSC." "Consultant Pharmacists have an essential role in healthcare as clinicians and as leaders who make a significant impact to medicines optimisation and clinical governance, providing a vital link between clinical practice and service development by generating and disseminating evidence to drive improvements in care. "I am delighted that this guidance has been published to take forward the strategic development and appointment of the consultant pharmacy workforce in both primary and secondary care and to enable pharmacy to be at the forefront of healthcare in NI".

People are advised to be prepared and order their repeat prescriptions in time so that they don't run out of their routine medicines over the Christmas and New Year break when services are likely to be busier than normal. As GP practices will be closed over the bank holidays and only some pharmacies will remain open, local NHS leaders have urged patients to plan ahead to avoid making last-minute requests for collecting repeat prescriptions, which can add avoidable pressure for doctors, pharmacies, and other NHS services. Sati Ubhi, Chief Pharmacist at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, have cautioned patients that running out of their usual medication can have serious consequences. "By ordering medicines as soon as possible, it allows enough time for it to be processed and dispensed and helps avoid a last-minute rush," she told Fenland Citizen.

Professor Harry McQuillan has said community pharmacists in the UK must change their focus from an 'accuracy of supply' to a 'safety of supply' model when it comes to dealing with patients. "The main take away message from tonight's lecture is for pharmacy professionals to really challenge themselves about whether they are focused on accuracy of supply or safety of supply," he said at this year's UCL School of Pharmacy Lecture in London on Thursday, 15 June. "For our community pharmacists it must be about safety, including prescribing, and ensuring patients and citizens get the maximum benefit from prescribed medicines. "To deliver this, we need to invest in our teams - harness technology and always be willing to take the next step in a more clinical future." The Chief Executive Office of Community Pharmacy Scotland, however, noted that at a time when the UK was grappling with an unprecedented national debt crisis exacerbated by severe cost of living and spiraling inflation, community pharmacy will need to make a "compelling case" of where the priority should be in the sector. Expanding on the financial woes of the country, he compared the current national debt of the UK, which stood at a staggering 270 percent of GDP in September 2022, with the previous record-breaking national debt of 250 per cent at the end of WWII.

NHS England's decision to forgo commissioning puberty suppressing hormones (PSH) for children and young people, citing insufficient evidence of their safety and clinical effectiveness, follows a comprehensive review conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2020. The clinical report underscores that "PSH treatment options will not be part of routine commissioning" for people under the age of 18 in England grappling with gender incongruence or dysphoria. The NHS England review analysed nine observational studies on Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone Analogues (GnRHa) and found no statistically significant difference in gender dysphoria, mental health, body image, and psychosocial functioning among children and adolescents treated with GnRHa. Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), acknowledged the challenges faced by pharmacy professionals regarding prescriptions for puberty suppressing hormones, stating:

Dr Bharat Shah CBE regrets that neither community pharmacists nor pharmaceutical wholesalers in the UK have any control over how Category M reimbursement prices in Part VIII A of the Drug Tariff are determined. The co-founder and chief executive of Sigma Pharmaceuticals was speaking at a conference organised by Avicenna in West London on Sunday (March 6). Introduced into the Drug Tariff in April 2005, Category M is used to set the reimbursement prices of over 500 drugs. The Department of Health and Social Care makes the final decision on the amount of reimbursement (cost of drugs and appliances supplied against an NHS prescription form) and remuneration (fees paid as part of the NHS community pharmacy contract for the provision of a service).

National Pharmacy Association (NPA) urged the NHS England to make local impact assessment a key requirement prior to any recruitment into Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), to help tackle workforce crisis. With inputs from LPCs, PCNs and CCGs should consider the impact of the creation of new roles on all health care providers in the area and on their ability to deliver their objectives on behalf of the NHS, it said. The NPA believes that creation of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) programme is impacting community pharmacy services in some areas and contributing to the ongoing workforce shortage. In a letter addressed to Ed Waller, director of Primary Care for NHS England, NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette highlighted the challenges emerged following a shortage of pharmacists and other members of staff.

Recognising her remarkable contribution in the profession of pharmacy, Christine Gilmour, the Director of Pharmacy at NHS Lanarkshire, has been designated as a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). Christine, who joined NHS Lanarkshire as trust chief pharmacist for University Hospital Hairmyres and Stonehouse in 1994. She has been in her current role as Director of Pharmacy for 17 years now. Considered to be one of the highest accolades in the domain of pharmacy, this fellowship recognises the distinction of an RPS member in the pharmacy career. NHS Lanarkshire executive medical director, Dr Chris Deighan commented: "We are extremely proud of Christine. This is a fantastic achievement and recognises all the hard work, dedication and expertise Christine has displayed across her career."

The consequences of NHS workforce crisis is not limited to general practice, community pharmacies are also suffering, commented Community Pharmacy England after the General Medical Council (GMC) published a report on Friday (23 June) which warned of the burnout in the workforce. The report calls for urgent actions to break a 'vicious cycle' of unmanageable workloads, dissatisfaction and burnout that is causing UK doctors to take steps to quit. Chief Executive Janet Morrison, said: "The GMC's report is yet another clear signal of the scale of the mounting the NHS workforce crisis, and this is not limited to general practice: community pharmacies are also suffering the consequences of it." "Pharmacy teams are overstretched, feeling immense pressures, and dealing with significantly increased workloads. Pharmacy owners are also finding it impossible to make ends meet, not least given the rising staffing costs which are being driven up by workforce issues. Findings show the number of doctors who reported working beyond their rostered hours on a weekly basis rose from 59% in 2021 to 70% in 2022, and 42% said they felt unable to cope with their workload each week (up from 30% in 2021). Just half said they were satisfied in their work, down from 70% in 2021.

Lack of appropriate funding is making survival a massive challenge for community pharmacy, a sector relied upon as a vital support system by both primary and secondary care in England. The Telegraph newspaper ran a story on Monday (August 22) which highlighted the dire straits community pharmacy finds itself in. Seasoned pharmacist Ian Strachan told the paper: "Our four pharmacies were the only point of call that was open (during Covid). We were there every single day, even when the virus was prevalent and people were dying." Describing the current situation, he said: "What is happening is we're facing a system that's just not working at all in our favour." Strachan says the issue is that pharmacists are "just not getting the help we need to be able to do this job properly". The sector is hugely dependent on funding from the NHS. The government had agreed in 2019 to set £2.6bn as annual funding for the sector. However, according to a report from EY that amount was already down £200m on the 2016 levels of government funding. "We've been starved of appropriate funding since 2016," Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies told The Telegraph. "It looks grim for businesses. The fees pharmacists get are going nowhere, but now, there's higher utility bills, higher staff fees and higher drug costs."