Group items tagged

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in collaboration with Health Education England's Centre for Advancing Practice and the Centre for Pharmacy Post Graduate Education (CPPE) will provide a pharmacy-specific professional development pathway for advanced pharmacist practice. Successful completion of the pathway, assured through the RPS Core Advanced Pharmacist Curriculum assessment, will result in pharmacists being recognised by RPS as an advanced pharmacist, along with the awarding of HEE's Centre for Advancing Practice's 'Advanced' digital badge, demonstrating the quality assurance of their advanced practice preparation to patients, families, carers, and other healthcare professionals. The first participants in a fully funded, supported e-portfolio pathway to recognise advanced pharmacist practice in England will get underway in March 2023 This new programme is an important step in creating a clear postgraduate career structure for pharmacists in England. The innovative approach provides funding from HEE's Centre for Advancing Practice in 2023-24 for 300 pharmacists in England who are near to, or already practicing at, an advanced level, to enable them to receive supervision and support in building their RPS Core Advanced e-Portfolio from CPPE's pharmacy education supervisors.

In response to stakeholder feedback, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is developing a streamlined, single route to registration that will replace the current multiple-pathway system for overseas pharmacists wishing to practice in Great Britain. This revised approach will include updated standards for the education and training of internationally qualified pharmacists, with all applicants still required to pass a registration assessment. The GPhC's Council intends to streamline the registration pathway, reducing the two-year process to one-year process. This new pathway will encompass both university study and in-practice training. Historically, pharmacists qualified within the European Economic Area (EEA) or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have been eligible for qualification recognition in Great Britain. While this recognition has been extended until September 2028, the future requirement for EEA-qualified pharmacists to undergo the new registration route remains contingent on forthcoming government decisions. Initially, the GPhC had explored the development of three distinct registration routes for internationally-qualified pharmacists, "however decided to change this proposed approach after considering feedback from stakeholders."

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United Kingdom, affecting nearly 50,000 men yearly. Combined with the challenges faced across healthcare during COVID-19, new figures show that prostate cancer accounts for a third of cancers not treated due to the pandemic, with 14,000 'missing patients' believed to have not undergone treatment since April 2020. It is more urgent than ever that men are encouraged to get checked, as any set-backs in diagnosis can reduce the pathways available, in turn affecting health outcomes. Community pharmacy teams play a crucial role in signposting the help available for men who may be concerned about their health. Therefore, it is vital that pharmacy teams have access to the information they need to correctly direct men to seek prostate cancer guidance. By maximising the trusted relationship between patients and their pharmacists, more can be done to identify the warning signs, helping men to get an earlier diagnosis.

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease remained the leading cause of death in England and Wales in 2023, maintaining the pre-pandemic trend, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figures reveal that there were 66,876 deaths with an underlying cause of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, accounting for 11.6% of all deaths registered that year. In response to this growing health concern, Luye Pharma is hosting a free special educational webinar on 6 November 2024 (timing: 18:30 - 20:00) for healthcare professionals. Titled "Treating Dementia in 2024: Optimising Pathways Between Primary and Secondary Care," the online session will focus on addressing the ever-increasing challenges in dementia treatment and how to optimise pathways between primary and secondary care. The webinar will feature expert speakers from the field of dementia care, including Dr. Jill Rasmussen, Primary Care Specialist in dementia, mental health, and intellectual disabilities; Delia Bashara, Consultant Pharmacist for the Mental Health of Older Adults and Dementia at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; and Khaleel Loonat, Senior Clinical Pharmacist and Advanced Clinical Practitioner.

In its effort to address workforce challenges, Health Education and Improvement Wales has outlined initiatives aimed at facilitating the return of pharmacy professionals with refugee status to active practice within Wales. This possibility has been stated in HEIW's Strategic Pharmacy Workforce Plan, which commits to investigating the practicality and significance of establishing a registration pathway for pharmacy professionals displaced due to refugee status. According to HEIW, it is currently investigating the viability and importance of revitalising 'return to practice' packages, formulating pharmacy apprenticeships, initiating international recruitment initiatives, and establishing a registration pathway in Wales for displaced pharmacists and pharmacy technicians holding refugee status. "In the past two years, we have arrived at a point where maintaining the desired access to the volume and quality of pharmacy services for our population has proven unattainable," said HEIW. "In Wales, instances of diminished pharmacy services are evident in both hospital and community settings. The trend of abrupt, temporary closures in community pharmacies continues."

More than 300 fully-funded training places will be open to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in adult critical care units in England this year. NHS England has awarded a contract to the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA) to deliver 200 funded continuing professional development places for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from April 2024. Another school of pharmacy, the name of which has not been announced yet, will deliver 100 funded places on a pharmacist adult critical care pathway. There are already 15 funded places on an adult critical care training pathway for pharmacy technicians provided by the University of Bradford. Reacting to evidence indicating workforce concerns in critical care, NHS England invited bids from training providers for delivering the training in November 2023.

In response to concerns raised by Community Pharmacy England (CPE), ministers have decided to lower the October threshold for the Pharmacy First service to 20. This decision addresses a major worry for pharmacy owners who have struggled to meet the required number of clinical pathways for monthly Pharmacy First payments, especially as the October increase to 30 pathways approached. CPE has been actively engaged in discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England over the past few weeks to address this issue. Commenting on the decision, Janet Morrison, CEO of Community Pharmacy England, said: "It is great that ministers have responded to our concerns about another increase to the Pharmacy First payment threshold: this decision will save many community pharmacies from missing out on a vital payment this month." Morrison added that CPE will continue to monitor service data and, if needed, make further representations to ministers about future months. She also emphasised the need to find a long-term solution, which involves "NHS England marketing Pharmacy First effectively and ensuring that GPs are actively referring people to the service."

NHS England announced at the Pharmacy Show this morning that Ministers have decided to amend the Pharmacy First thresholds for the remainder of the year. This decision follows concerns raised by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) regarding difficulties faced by pharmacy owners in meeting the required number of clinical pathway consultations for monthly Pharmacy First payments In response to CPE's representations to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England, the threshold was earlier reduced from 20 to 15 in August, and from 30 to 20 in October. At the Pharmacy Show on Monday, Ali Sparke from NHS England announced the revised thresholds, setting them at 20 for November and December 2024. Starting in January and February 2025, the number of clinical pathway consultations needed for the monthly Pharmacy First payment will rise to 25, with a further increase to 30 in March.

For young people up and down the country, there will become a time in their life when they need to start thinking about their future career. For many it may begin with a professional footballer, actor or popstar. In fact, these days it's more likely to be influencer. But of course, for most, it doesn't quite end up that way. However, many also dream of entering the healthcare profession and becoming a doctor or nurse and today, more than ever, there's a real drive for healthcare recruitment from the top down. As young people start to hit the end of secondary school, it can be a good time to start exploring the journey of becoming a professional in an area and if your child has shown an interest in becoming a doctor, here's what they need to know about starting that pathway… Understanding the Educational Pathway The journey to becoming a doctor does usually start in secondary education, so it is important to make young people aware of this. You generally need to achieve good GCSE results, particularly in sciences, while that's also the case at A-level too, with the likes of biology, chemistry and mathematics all relevant subjects to study. A medical degree is required to become a doctor, with medicine often the most common way to become a General Practitioner. Securing a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery provides a good route, albeit a competitive one. In many cas

EMIS Pinnacle, the leading Pharmacy First IT supplier, has begun implementing the GP Connect Update Record feature to all community pharmacies in England that use PharmOutcomes. Starting June 28, this new feature was made available for use with the Hypertension case-finding service and the Pharmacy contraception service, as announced by the Community Pharmacy England (CPE). The GP Connect Update Record will enable community pharmacies to securely share "structured" information with GP practices regarding consultations conducted under the Pharmacy First programme, which includes minor illness and clinical pathways, along with Hypertension Case Finding and Pharmacy Contraception services Live testing is underway with EMIS Pinnacle for Pharmacy First minor illness and clinical pathways. There are plans to expand the system in the future to include updates for urgent supply of medicines under the Pharmacy First service. EMIS Pinnacle is the third CPCF IT system supplier to offer this functionality, following Cegedim's Pharmacy Services system and Positive Solutions' HXConsult system.

In response to concerns raised by pharmacy owners, the government has decided to adjust the August threshold for the Pharmacy First service from 20 to 15 clinical pathways. The ability of pharmacy owners to achieve the thresholds for the monthly Pharmacy First payments has been a topic of great concern. Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has been actively discussing this issue over the last few weeks with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. Ministers have now decided to adjust the August threshold for the Pharmacy First service to 15, CPE announced today (July 31). Commenting on this decision, Janet Morrison, CEO of Community Pharmacy England said: "We are pleased that Ministers have listened to our concerns and acted quickly to make an adjustment so soon after coming into office."

Abortion can occur by itself or it can be induced. Induced abortion is done, when a woman does not want a baby. She becomes pregnant against her will and wants to conclude her pregnancy. A woman might have many reasons for an abortion. Maybe she is not financially strong enough to support her child...

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are set to receive up to £15.9 million over the next four years which will help them thrive in multidisciplinary healthcare teams and enable expansion of frontline staff in primary and community care. The funding, which is part of the Pharmacy Integration Programme allocation, will improve registered pharmacy professionals' skills, through a range of training and development opportunities. The programme is a part of education reform for pharmacy professionals and will allow them to identify career pathways. Health Education England and NHS England will work in partnership to develop "a formal portfolio recognition process to identify the existing skills, training and experience gained by pharmacists working in primary care, allowing them to work more flexibly and better support GP services", HEE said in a statement today (November 8).

Community pharmacy contractors are likely to receive more referrals from NHS 111 for the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) following a review of the NHS Pathway algorithms, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) announced on Friday (January 14). The review, conducted by an expert group of Integrated Urgent Care clinicians and pharmacists, led to inclusion of more minor illness symptoms for referral to the CPCS from NHS 111. The reviews based on data from 2021, showed it could generate 275,000 additional referral opportunities annually. With the introduction of changes, three new condition types (scratches and grazes, teething, sinusitis) and general health information requests will be added.

The journey on building inclusive teams and increasing ethnic diversity and representation at all levels is never ending, said Sanjay Bhandari, chair at Kick It Out. "I think you can set the direction but it's quite difficult to set the destination with these things," Bhandari, who is part of the government-sponsored Parker review into the ethnic diversity of UK boards said during a panel discussion on Inclusive Leadership held as part of the Pharmacy Business Diversity Conference on Thursday (December 9). He said the aim of the review was to fix a destination like a milestone, it's not the ultimate destination. Bhandari highlighted that "most organisations have not even started and so a good way of getting started was by the end of 2021 to have at least one British born director of colour on your board for the FTSE 100 (companies)." The idea of the review is to "focus on that pathway and filling the hole inthedoughnut," Bhandari said.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)'s diagnostic advisory committee has recommended the use of HM-JACKarc or OC-Sensor quantitative faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) in a draft guidance release for consultation on Wednesday (5 July). Under existing NICE guidance, FIT was already offered to some people presenting to primary care with symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer, while others were immediately referred on the suspected cancer pathway. The new draft guidance will now see everyone receive a FIT. A sample is sent in the post to a laboratory where the amount of blood in the faeces is measured. The results are usually available within a week and people with 10 or more micrograms of haemoglobin in their faeces should then be referred for further investigation. Further assessment using colonoscopy, or CT colonography, is required to diagnose cancer. The tests cost between £4 and £5 per sample, and can correctly identify about 9 out of 10 people with colorectal cancer. The committee agreed it is important that GPs can refer people for colonoscopy without a positive FIT result if they think it is necessary and where symptoms persist. The institute believes that the recommendation of the tests should reduce the number of unnecessary colonoscopies, thus freeing up appointments for more non-urgent referrals. This should lead to 50% fewer referrals for urgent colonoscopies being made by GPs in primary care settings each year.

Those of us who work in community pharmacy know there is a workforce crisis created in large measure by PCNs actively recruiting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from our sector. It is welcome, if long overdue, that this has now been officially acknowledged in a report commissioned by the English Health Secretary. PCN hiring 'exacerbates pharmacist shortage' says DH-commissioned report, which states such recruitment has "on occasion exacerbated the problem of a general shortage of pharmacists" which has compounded "the problem of community pharmacy closures." We have been telling the government this for years only to be told "problem? What problem?"- but now that Steve Barclay has his own official report sitting on his desk, he and NHSE cannot continue in denial mode. The facts are there for all to see. Time to act. No more dithering, delay or indifference. You asked if there was a problem and you have been told there is. In the absence of a holistic workforce strategy and cross-sector career pathways, PCNs poaching from community pharmacy is a zero sum game adding nothing to improving patient care.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is refreshing its Professional Standards for Homecare Services and will be shared for consultation in August to allow comment and input on the updated content. The final version is expected to be completed in the autumn. The standards were originally published in 2013 and are a framework to support teams providing and commissioning homecare services. Homecare medicines services deliver medication, and any necessary associated care, direct to the patient's home with their consent. The standards help patients experience a consistent quality of homecare services, irrespective of provider, will protect them from avoidable incidents and help them get the best outcomes from their medicines. Jennifer Allen, The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer's Clinical Fellow leading the refresh at RPS said: "It has been 10 years since the first set of Homecare Standards were published, so it is important that they are reviewed and brought up to date to reflect current service design, medicine pathways and delivery models to ensure patients receive safe and effective medication supply and associated care."

The lessons from Covid crisis applied in the future through collaboration can create a better integration between GP practices, hospitals and community pharmacies, Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) has proposed. Stating that a more integrated healthcare system could enable pharmacists to provide effective and more efficient care to patients, the PDA proposed a model where at least two pharmacists would be working in each community pharmacy, empowered, and enabled with two-way referral pathways, having more clinical input and full access to patient records. "Such an environment could not only help to improve communications between health professionals and increase access to services for patients, but would support the NHS to operate more effectively."

Businesses have a responsibility for the safety of their employees, as well as visitors that are on their premises. If an injury occurs on their property, a company can be held responsible. There are various issues and rules that may apply, so it is important to know the facts regarding such situations. Here are 4 impacts legalities to consider for your business when dealing with such incidents. STATUS OF ENVIRONMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY OF PREMISES When you are looking into injury cases that occur and involve the premises or property of a business, one of the most important aspects to consider is the status of the property itself. All property that has access to the public owned by an individual or business must be maintained in a manner that is safe for people to reasonably move around. This is often associated with sidewalks and pathways, as well as corridors, hallways, and various rooms in businesses. You must ensure that areas where people may be around are safe such as ensuring no water or substance is present on floors that would cause falls or slips, and otherwise having the signage to indicate the need for caution. This is not limited to people, but can also apply to vehicles and equipment, ensuring oil stains and spills do not endanger the operators and employees in the area. Businesses should recognize any risks that are present and also be mindful to address environmental concerns in the immediate area as they are made aware of them. If a business fails to address such potential dangers, they are indeed potentially liable for any injuries and health concerns that come as a result of willful ignorance of the situation.