The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has said that multi-buy deals on paracetamol violate the existing voluntary sales guidelines.
The professional body is urging the government to pass legislation that prohibits retailers from making such offers on medicines for pain relief.
They have also sent letters to MP Maria Caulfield who is the Minister for Mental Health and Women's Health.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is requesting to take action on the legislation at the earliest.
The concern raised is that multi-buy offers such as 'buy one get one free' can encourage people to buy and store excess packs, which may lead to accidental
or impulsive overdose.
The hybrid professional and leadership session underscores the Sigma Conference's significance in offering hope and inspiration to its delegates. This
pioneering venture unfolds following meticulous planning, months of deliberation, and the collaboration of experts from various health disciplines across the UK.
This session, rich in diversity and expertise, aims to elevate the role of community pharmacy in the ever-evolving landscape of the NHS.
It comprises three key components and delves into multi-professional collaboration, insights from NHS Chief Professional Officers from the four devolved nations
complimented by the Royal College of Nursing Directorate Wales, and the evolving landscape of Pharmacy Professional Leadership.
Multi-Professional Collaboration: Breaking Boundaries
The crux of this ground-breaking session lies in appreciating and fostering greater multi-professional collaboration to set the stage for a thought-provoking
session on how community pharmacy can be recognised as an important cog in the wheel of an integrated NHS. This convergence creates a dynamic platform for community
pharmacy to form wider partnerships and explore opportunities, particularly with the recently launched NHS Pharmacy First Service.
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Located in East Delhi, Kailash Deepak Hospital is among the best multi-specialty hospital in East Delhi providing exceptional quality patient care in a safe and compassionate environment.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned of multi-million financial hit for community pharmacies, while the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating
Committee (PSNC) has renewed its calls for urgent financial support amid a looming energy bill crisis.
NPA board member, Olivier Picard, this week shared a screenshot of his estimated electricity bill on WhatsApp groups. Upon expiration of his current arrangements,
in October, his electricity bill could rise from its current £1,821 for one pharmacy to an estimated £6,914 - a near fourfold increase.
Piccard said: "This is an eye-watering rise in costs for my own pharmacies and adds to the intense financial pressure we're already under. My standing charges will
multiply by 10 and the overall cost to each pharmacy amounts to about £5,000."
His comments come just ahead of an NPA-commissioned report into pharmacy inflation which will provide an analysis of inflationary costs pressing on the community
pharmacy sector, from utilities and workforce to medicines purchasing.
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To help transform care for patients, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is calling on the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to remove the two-year post qualification wait for pharmacists before they are allowed to start their independent prescriber training.
RPS proposes that entry to training should be based on whether pharmacists can evidence the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to undertake the training, and not the length of time a pharmacist has been on the register.
RPS president Claire Anderson said: "We've campaigned strongly for better use of pharmacist independent prescribers, who are becoming essential to multi professional teams in all health care settings.
"We want to ensure pharmacy remains an attractive career and has parity with the other professions. Pharmacist prescribing is now moving from being a skill only associated with advanced specialist levels of practice to a more generalist scope, providing a workforce that's more flexible with a shared set of capabilities.
The General Pharmaceutical Council is appointing a new Chief Pharmacy Officer to strengthen the professional voice within the senior leadership team. This
introduction is aimed at fostering a culture of enterprise leadership, inclusion and collaboration within the organisation, GPhC said in a statement.
According to GPhC, the Chief Pharmacy Officer will serve as the authoritative representative of the pharmacy regulator in public, within the pharmacy professions,
and increasingly in multi-disciplinary teams and collaborative regulatory work. "They will act as the executive lead on pharmacy inspection and regulatory insight,
providing professional leadership within the GPhC and collaborating closely with pharmacist and pharmacy technician colleagues across the organisation."
The Chief Pharmacy Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive and Registrar, will hold the highest professional position within the GPhC executive, providing pharmacy
leadership across the organisation, GPhC said.
RP Healthcare, a multi-operator, has sold Hammersmith pharmacy in West London to an independent pharmacist for an undisclosed amount.
"Mariam Moshref, owner of Fulham Pharmacy, together with her twin brothers, Arya and Jaan Moshref, purchased Hammersmith Pharmacy from Ravi Patel of RP
Healthcare," Christie and Co, who handled the sale, said in a statement.
This pharmacy operates during standard hours, handling an average of 5,920 items per month, the statement added. Refurbished in 2018, the pharmacy is located
on Fulham Palace Road, W6, near Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Underground station.
RP Healthcare placed the pharmacy on the market as a strategic move to divest from the area.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it would allocate 1.23 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to mental health initiatives across the 27-member European Union
and make mental health a pillar of health policy.
"Today marks a new beginning for a comprehensive, prevention-oriented and multi-stakeholder approach to mental health at EU level," Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner
for health and food safety, said in a statement.
"We need to break down stigma and discrimination so that those in need can reach out and receive the support they need. It is OK not to be OK, and it is our duty to
ensure that everyone asking for help has access to it."
The Commission said mental health problems already impacted around 84 million people before the COVID-19 pandemic with an economic cost of about 600 billion euro a
year, or 4% of the bloc's GDP.
The situation has deteriorated since the pandemic with the war in Ukraine, climate change anxiety and the rising cost of living due to soaring inflation.
At a press conference, Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas called it a "silent epidemic" and said the topic was the last piece in the European Health Union
"puzzle".
The Welsh chapter of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, along with ten other royal colleges and professional bodies, have renewed calls for the urgent
transformation of mental health services to address increasing demands on the NHS in Wales.
Representatives of the Royal College Mental Health Expert Advisory Group joined members of the Senedd in Cardiff to outline the work of the group over the past
year and to explain why a well-trained, fully supported and equipped multi-disciplinary workforce is critical for the development of care for people with mental
health conditions.
To make sustainable change happen, the group is calling for a greater focus by the Welsh government and NHS Wales on the following:
The critical changes needed to improve the delivery and structure of mental health services across Wales in community, hospital and specialist secure settings.
Parity of access to mental health services for the most vulnerable patients, ensuring they have equal access opportunities that vulnerable patients would receive for
physical health conditions.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the way healthcare professionals work within the primary care setting. The advent of Covid-19 meant that we all
had to rapidly modify the way we supported and met the needs of patients, some of whom saw the services they usually took for granted, virtually cease overnight.
There are around 15 million people in England living with long-term health conditions including asthma. These people have the greatest healthcare needs of the whole
population with 50 per cent of all GP appointments and 70 per cent of all bed days taken by this cohort of patients, and their treatment and care absorbing 70 per
cent of acute and primary care budgets in England.
This situation isn't going to improve any time soon. In the past, most people had a single condition, today multi-morbidity is becoming the norm. At the start of the
pandemic, the Royal College of General Practice and British Medical Association issued guidance to practices on prioritising workload. This included the importance
of maintaining long-term condition reviews in asthma, COPD and diabetes, along with appropriate transition of at-risk warfarin patients. These reviews were deemed as
essential workstreams for patients considered to be at high risk.
Traditionally, the unique skills set of a pharmacist has meant that we have played a major role in supporting these patients. I work with a team of over 90 clinical
pharmacists who, in partnership with individual practices, PCNs, CCGs and STPs, help with the long-term management of people with chronic conditions. But the onset
of Covid-19 meant that we now had to plug a potential gap in service provision, and quickly.
Today I'm proud to share with you the statement we submitted to the UK Commission on Pharmacy Professional Leadership in which we set out what professional
leadership means to RPS.
I recognise we haven't always been clear in communicating our ideas to members and our external stakeholders. Through the Commission, and our own Independent
Review of member participation and communications, we are determined to remedy this.
We're committed to lead pharmacy in the best interest of patients and the professions. This means that sometimes we will need to take difficult decisions. We will
do the right thing for the long term, ultimately driving what's best for patient care.
There are some key changes we believe are necessary to fulfil the profession's ambitions.
To achieve a more unified approach to pharmacy leadership, we believe both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians should be represented by RPS within professional
faculties that capitalise on the strengths of each discipline whilst retaining distinct professional voices.
Many of our members work with pharmacy technicians every day and know just how essential they are to their role and to patient care. We feel the same at RPS and it
makes perfect sense to evolve into an organisation where both professions can advance their scope of practice, working in alignment as part of the wider
multi-professional team.
We will develop and implement post-registration curricula and credentialing for all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working with patients and the public. To
do this we will require formal delegation of authority by the GPhC.
Panadol launched a new purpose-led brand idea as part of a multi-channel campaign across Great Britain and Ireland. With nine out of 10 people suffering
"everyday pain" and 65% of people saying they can't be happy when they are in pain[1], globally, the campaign reiterates the brand's commitment to holistic pain
management by focusing on the acute pain recovery journey.
Rooted in deep consumer understanding, the campaign idea celebrates that never-talked-about moment of realisation when you start to feel the release from pain.
The new brand idea will bring to life the emotional transformation that those suffering from acute pain undergo, emphasising the role that Panadol can play in
alleviating their pain.
The Panadol campaign follows a period of strong sales growth for the brand, outperforming the category's own expansion by more than double[2].
This has been driven by shoppers who are searching for fast and effective pain relief products, such as Panadol's hero variants, including Panadol Extra Advance
Tablets (paracetamol, caffeine), which has seen its growth almost doubled[3], as well as Panadol Advance Tablets (paracetamol) and Panadol Extra Advance Tablets.
Monica Michalopoulou, GBI Marketing Director, said: "After two years of pandemic restrictions, now more than ever, people want to get back to their normal lives
and to the people they love. But with pain preventing many of us from connecting with those we love or from doing the things we enjoy the most, we want to help
consumers by understanding their pain journey and reassuring them on the treatments we can provide. This "Release" moment is so important for pain sufferers, and we hope our new brand campaign can shine a light on the role that Panadol can play in pain relief".
A pharmacy group operating in London and the surrounding areas has said it's cliched a financial deal worth £4.25 million with a major global bank to bolster
its mergers and acquisitions activity.
Osbon Pharmacy Group said on Monday (19 June) that it would use the multi-million-pound funding package from HSBC UK to also invest in bringing accessible and
comprehensive medical services closer to the doorstep of Londoners and people of South East England.
The family-run business said the new money will open new position which will include opportunities for pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians,
dispensers, accounts clerks and delivery drivers, taking the company's total headcount to 185.
The group, which currently has 26 pharmacies across London and South East England, was established in 2005.
The company offers a range of medicine and prescription services as well as offering customary help and advice. It switched to banking with HSBC UK last year as
part of a £6.9M refinance package, which saw the business acquire nine pharmacies and takes the total funding provided by HSBC UK to date to £11.1m.
In response to new research that revealed inequality in menopause support with 51 per cent of women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds,
Holland & Barrett, the UK's leading health and wellness retailer, has decided to continue its menopause campaign work to make "every menopause matter".
A quarter of women (26 per cent) from minority ethnic communities say they find it difficult to access menopause support relevant to their specific backgrounds.
Alongside support from Olympian and menopause campaigner, Michelle Griffith Robinson and expert, Meera Bhogal, the retailer is launching several new initiatives
to make its information and support on menopause more inclusive by offering more diverse and personalised advice and content, tailored to different needs.
Almost a third (31 per cent) believe being able to speak to a female healthcare professional of the same ethnicity as them would have made a difference to their
menopause experience. Fifteen per cent go as far as saying that communicating in their native language would have made a positive difference.
Based on these findings, Holland and Barrett is the first retailer to launch a free, multi-language menopause online consultation service. The service will
see trained H&B menopause advisors offering guidance and symptom support in multiple languages, starting with Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Punjabi.
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."
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published its new 'Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum' to enable professional development towards advanced pharmacist
practice.
This follows an intensive programme of work undertaken in collaboration with a wide range of UK stakeholders, the society said today (June 27) in a statement.
The Curriculum will equip pharmacists with advanced leadership, education, and research capabilities which are essential to support, lead and advance the profession
through transformative change so it continues to meet evolving patient and service requirements.
The RPS Core Advanced Curriculum provides the blueprint to develop such individuals by articulating a UK entry-level standard to advanced pharmacist practice,
relevant to all patient-focussed pharmacist roles and aligned to multi-professional definitions of advanced practice.
This curriculum completes the core RPS post-registration curricula, creating a seamless post-registration professional development continuum modelled around five
common domains- Person-centred care and collaboration; Professional practice; Leadership and management; Education; and Research.