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The Centre for Pharmacy Post-Graduate Education (CPPE) has launched Menopause - an introduction for pharmacy professionals e-learning programme. The new Menopause: an introduction for pharmacy professionals e-learning programme aims to support pharmacist's to increase their knowledge and awareness of menopause and perimenopause, helping them to have initial conversations with those who need support. The programme teaches how to equip people experiencing menopausal symptoms with evidence-based information that allows them to make decisions about their own health management. This e-learning programme considers a range of topics, including the signs and symptoms associated with menopause and perimenopause, how a diagnosis is made and the national context supporting a growing role for pharmacy professionals in menopause care. It also discusses the benefits and risks of treatment options available, the common misconceptions that people may have about menopause and how to apply the evidence base to practice in order to help support decision making.

The UK based Pharma giant Futura Medical Plc's lead product, Eroxon, a topical Stim-gel is now available on NHS prescription in England and Wales for the treatment of Erectile Dysfunction (ED). The Muti-Drug Resistant (MDR) approved alternative to PDE5i, Eroxon is available as an over-the counter off shelf at retailers like Boots and Superdrug; and is available on NHS prescription in England and Wales as a CE-marked medical device. Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence, is the inability to get and maintain an erection, typically concerning men over the age of 40 due to both, psychological and physical causes such as anxiety, depression, diabetes, and obesity. According to UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA), the approval of the medication is based on evidence from 2 Phase three clinical studies, which showed that 60 per cent of patients taking Eroxon achieved Minimal Clinically Important Differences (MCID) at 12 weeks.

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.

A three-year contract has been signed between NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Pharmaceutical Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's (RPS) knowledge business, to continue the supply of trusted medicines information though MedicinesComplete, to healthcare professionals in Scotland. The renewed investment from NES demonstrates unequivocal confidence in the publisher and highlights Pharmaceutical Press' ongoing commitment to provide practical and evidence-based guidance, supporting those who prescribe, dispense, and administer medicines. Essential resources include Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, Palliative Care formulary, Stockley's Drug Interactions and Critical Illness. Relied on by healthcare professionals globally for use in everyday practice, clear and concise guidance through MedicinesComplete supports confident decision-making at the point of care.

The Health Select Committee Expert Panel has concluded in its report published on Tuesday (25 July) that the funding aspect in the community pharmacy sector 'requires improvement' based on the evidence received. The Expert Panel reviewed nine Government commitments, seven of which were from the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. It was found that available funding was not sufficient to keep pharmacies open, struggling financially with increased demand for dispensing, workforce pressures and rising costs due to inflation. One of the other commitments requiring improvement covered a scheme intended to protect access to local physical NHS pharmaceutical services in areas where there were fewer pharmacies. Professor Dame Jane Dacre, Chair of the Expert Panel, said: "Pharmacy plays a key role in the delivery of care so it's disappointing that progress overall to deliver on the Government's commitments was rated as 'requires improvement'.

Pharmacy professionals to be included as key stakeholders in the implementation, delivery and evaluation of a wide range of genomic services, said the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). RPS's statement has been developed in collaboration with pharmacy organisations who have co-badged the report, such as the British Oncology Pharmacy Association, the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association, Association of Pharmacy Technicians and the College of Mental Health Pharmacy. It looks at current and future roles for pharmacy professionals in genomic medicine across many aspects of practice such as person-centred care and collaboration, professional practice, education, leadership, management and research. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the UK have already established roles in the application of genomic medicine in some areas of practice, such as antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases, and the management of certain genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis. The society believes, the current role of pharmacy professionals in genomics can be expanded upon in the future to both lead and support many relevant aspects of genomic implementation. These are described across all healthcare sectors, within the Genome UK strategy produced by the UK Government, and within the implementation plans published in England, Scotland and Wales. Lead for Pharmacogenomics at RPS Sophie Harding said: "Pharmacy professionals are the gatekeepers of medication safety and efficacy across all areas of healthcare. They are skilled at interpreting complex scientific data and use evidence-based medicine to maximise the benefits of treatments for patients, whilst supporting shared decision-making with patients and the multidisciplinary team.

There is clear evidence that the majority of distance selling pharmacies are operating in breach of their NHS contracts, and a failure to properly regulate 'pseudo' distance selling pharmacies is leading to local pharmacy closures, the Company Chemists' Association has reported. According to the CCA's recent findings, 72 per cent of DSPs dispense over 50 per cent of their prescriptions to patients within a single postcode area within 10 miles of the pharmacy. "Operating within constrained geographical regions, pseudo-DSPs achieve reduced overheads and operational costs by focusing on localised marketing and medicine delivery. They compete against local brick-and-mortar pharmacies, causing them to lose vital trade," the CCA claimed, based on its recent survey - The Impact of Pseudo Distance Selling Pharmacies. "As per their terms of service, DSPs are obligated to provide prescription delivery nationwide, extending beyond local patients," said the CCA, adding that the financial savings resulting from the lack of patient access are balanced by the necessity to function on a national scale.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), supported by the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK), have launched the first e-learning module in a series for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to develop their skills and knowledge in research. A total of nine e-learning modules will be released by the end of 2022 to improve research awareness, knowledge and skills for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians with little or no experience of research or research opportunities. The aim is to improve the capacity of pharmacy professionals to provide the evidence base to improve the practice of pharmacy and the health of the public. RPS President Professor Claire Anderson said: "Many pharmacy professionals are rather daunted by getting involved in research. Indeed, we have heard from pharmacists undertaking our post-registration credentialing assessments that the Research domain can present a real challenge.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy published a new report on Monday (January 23) that calls for "urgent action" to relieve funding pressure so there are "opportunities" for community pharmacy teams to deliver even more for their patients. The report highlights the need for a new "strategic vision" for pharmacy and highlights opportunities for the network to be empowered to deliver even more for patients. However, the manifesto also underlines that there are the very real risks that this opportunity may be lost if significant and ongoing pressures are not addressed. The recommendations are based on written and oral evidence gathered from frontline pharmacists, GPs, professional bodies and healthcare experts. To harness the potential of pharmacy, the report recommends the Government must take urgent action to relieve the funding pressures on the community pharmacy sector in the short term and review the long-term funding model for pharmacy. It also suggested the Government must harness the power of pharmacy to help the NHS deal with the COVID-19 backlog and the UK's growing healthcare challenges. It further recommended that future commissioning and funding must recognise that community pharmacy is the front door to the NHS for many patients.

Health authorities in India have launched an inquiry into an allegation that a local pharmaceutical regulator, in return for a bribe, helped switch samples of cough syrups that the World Health Organization (WHO) had linked to the deaths of children in Gambia before the samples were tested at an Indian laboratory, according to two government officials and documents reviewed by the Reuters news agency. In an April 29 letter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Haryana state reviewed by the news agency, a lawyer named Yashpal accused the state's drug controller, Manmohan Taneja, of taking a bribe of 50 million rupees (£481,600 approx.) from local manufacturer Maiden Pharmaceuticals to help it switch the samples before an Indian government laboratory tested them. Maiden's factory is based in Haryana state. Reuters points out that it was unable to independently establish that any bribes were paid. Taneja did not respond to phone calls, messages or emails seeking comment. Maiden did not respond to requests for comment. The WHO said it had no knowledge of the allegation. Yashpal - who like some Indians uses only one name - did not say in the letter where he got the information, or provide evidence for his claim about the syrups made by Maiden. Reuters was unable to independently establish that any bribes were paid.

An experimental Alzheimer's drug developed by Eli Lilly and Co slowed cognitive decline by 35% in a late-stage trial, the company said on Wednesday, providing what experts say is the strongest evidence yet that removing sticky amyloid plaques from the brain benefits patients with the fatal disease. Lilly's drug, donanemab, met all goals of the trial, the company said. It slowed progression of Alzheimer's by 35% compared to a placebo in 1,182 people with early-stage disease whose brains had deposits of two key Alzheimer's proteins, beta amyloid as well as intermediate levels of tau, a protein linked with disease progression and brain cell death. The study also evaluated the drug in 552 patients with high levels of tau and found that when both groups were combined, donanemab slowed progression by 29% based on a commonly used scale of dementia progression known as the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR-SB). Using that scale, experts said Lilly's findings were roughly on par with Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc's lecanemab, sold under the brand name Leqembi, which reduced cognitive decline by 27% in patients with early Alzheimer's in a study published last year. The results drove Lilly's shares to a record high, up more than 6% at $429.85. Dr. Ronald Petersen, an Alzheimer's researcher at Mayo Clinic, said Lilly's trial is the third to show removing amyloid from the brain slows progression of the disease, which could put to rest some lingering doubts about the benefits of drugs in the class and the amyloid-lowering theory. "It's modest, but I think it's real," he said of the benefit, "and I think it's clinically meaningful." Dr. Erik Musiek, a Washington University neurologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, said the efficacy looks as good or better than lecanemab.

NHS England has commissioned the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to develop guidance that helps community and hospital pharmacy teams across Britain to reduce the impact of pharmacy services, pharmaceutical care and medicines on the environment. The RPS said the Greener Pharmacy Guidance will enable pharmacies to self-assess their impact against the standards, benchmark and improve through evidence-based activities and actions. "I'm delighted our strong commitment to helping pharmacy reduce its environmental impact can now be taken to the next level through developing guidance and accreditation for pharmacy teams," RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said. "Medicines account for 25 per cent of carbon emissions within the NHS and this initiative underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable healthcare and supporting the NHS's goal of achieving 'net zero' emissions by 2040." Peter Morgan, medicines assistant director at NHS England, commented: "Pharmacy staff are involved in the purchasing and dispensing of almost every medicine used in the NHS and the new Greener Pharmacy Guidance and Self-accreditation scheme will provide support for pharmacy professionals by outlining clear actions to deliver more environmentally sustainable pharmacy practices." The RPS said the guidance and digital self-assessment toolkit will integrate with carbon calculator tools to help pharmacy teams to measure their carbon footprint, action plan to reduce use of carbon and improve sustainability.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is seeking views from all community pharmacy owners about the pressures faced this autumn season. A survey has been launched as the "November Pre-Committee Opinion Poll" until 6 November to seek views from independents and non-Company Chemists' Association (CCA) members. The results of the poll will be sent to the head offices of CCA multiples next week for discussion at the November Committee Meeting. CPE confirmed: "The results of these polls and the outcomes of the meeting will be reported back to the sector afterwards. They said that the survey "will be used to feed into our ongoing work to press for an uplift to core funding by enhancing our evidence base of what pharmacy owners are experiencing."

Pharmacists globally are broadening their roles to support self-care, aiming to enhance patient health outcomes through increased contributions and proactive behaviours, according to a new report. However, significant barriers, including inadequate funding and limited access to patient records, impede the optimisation of self-care activities and outcomes improvement in this area, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) said in its report. The FIP report, titled 'Community Pharmacy Insights: Supporting the Need for Self-Care,' gathers insights from 238 respondents across 55 countries with the aim of providing evidence-based policy support for workforce development. Nearly all respondents (93.2 per cent) indicated that pharmacists should actively engage in providing self-care support, FIP said. Furthermore, 48.9 per cent supported the involvement of pharmacy technicians, while 39.2 per cent endorsed the participation of pharmacy assistants and other team members in offering self-care support.

Members of the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) who have benefits in the Boots Pension Scheme have sought support from their union following the recent communications from the trustees about the removal of the option to retire at 60 without a reduced pension. The company claimed that retirement between 60-65 years old without a reduced pension was a discretionary benefit, and it has ended with the buy-in deal with Legal and General. However, PDA members believe there is insufficient evidence to fully support this claim, and therefore they are questioning whether this option should have been secured as part of the buy in and not ended with immediate effect. PDA Union national officer, Paul Moloney said: "Instead, we believe benefit statements issued to members, at the very least are contradictory, and clearly state that a full pension will be payable from a member's 60th birthday, with no reference to this benefit being discretionary and therefore subject to a regular review by the trustees. Instead, the benefit statements give the impression that an unreduced pension from 60 is a right with no indication that retirement plans should not be based on the benefit statements."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has appointed communications agency to lead a review into how it can develop and strengthen member participation. "We've appointed communications consultancy Luther Pendragon to carry out an independent review of the participation of members and of our communications concerning decisions we take on behalf of the profession through our Governance boards," the Society said in a statement on Tuesday (May 10). It added that review would examine how RPS members, elected members and stakeholders can feel engaged, informed and empowered to influence decisions about RPS policy and understand why decisions around organisational policy have been taken on their behalf by elected representatives. It will also ensure RPS decision-making processes are open and transparent with an emphasis on evidence-based decision making, and recommend ways elected members are enabled to be publicly accountable for decisions taken by the organisation at Board and Assembly level.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a partnership with the charity Marie Curie to develop professional standards in end of life care for community pharmacy. Available for pharmacy teams across the UK, the standards will provide a free, evidence-based framework to help community pharmacies self-assess and continuously improve their end of life and bereavement care for patients and carers. They will enable community pharmacy teams to work together to develop their own practice. RPS is setting up a professional standard steering group which will have community pharmacy experts, experts within the field of palliative and end of life care, lay members, and healthcare professionals who interact with community pharmacy. Elen Jones, director lead for palliative care work at RPS, said: "RPS has a long-term commitment, striving to ensure that people living with life-limiting conditions who are approaching the end of life have timely access to medicines and clinical support from a skilled pharmacy team. "The development of these standards, in partnership with Marie Curie, is a crucial step to support community pharmacy teams to undertake simple quality improvement measures and build upon the care they already provide to this group of patients and carers."

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has been appointed as a core participant in the Covid-19 public inquiry. The independent public inquiry has been set up to examine the UK's response to and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and learn lessons to shape preparations for future pandemics. It is chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, a former Court of Appeal judge. The NPA and RPS will be part of Module 3, which covers the impact of Covid-19 on healthcare systems across the United Kingdom. The preliminary hearing for that module takes place on Tuesday 28 February. This will give the association an opportunity to make opening and closing statements, consider evidence provided to the Inquiry and propose questions to be asked by the Inquiry of witnesses. NPA chief executive, Mark Lyonette, said: "This is an historic opportunity to place on record the achievements of community pharmacy during the pandemic and to ensure that the inquiry's recommendations are based in the practical realities faced by health workers such as our members.

Community pharmacies saved nearly 20,000 lives up to autumn 2021 by vaccinating people against the Covid-19, the National Pharmacy Association said based on a National Audit Office (NAO) report released on Friday (February 25). The report, having taken evidence from the NPA, highlighted that community pharmacies and GPs performed far beyond expectations in delivering the Covid-19 vaccine, as 71 per cent of jabs were administered by both healthcare providers till October-end, against an initial assumption of 56 per cent. The report cited UK Health Security Agency figures, which estimated that the programme overall prevented up to 128,000 deaths and 262,000 hospitalisations by September 24 and September 19, respectively. The estimated number is considerably higher, given the pivotal role played by pharmacies in this winter's phase of the vaccination programme, the NPA stated.

The new 'How to Involve and Engage Patients on Digital Health Tech Innovation' learning module has been created specifically to support the development and delivery of patient-centric technologies, at a time of critical digital transformation in the NHS. The foundation level module will be freely available at www.orcha-digitalhealthacademy.com and on the Health Education England NHS Learning Hub (learninghub.nhs.uk). No training previously exists on conducting effective patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE), leading to wasted resource on unsuitable technologies at a time when the healthcare system simply cannot afford it. The module aims to educate innovators who are creating new technology, and the clinicians who are prescribing these solutions. Crucially, the module also provides valuable support to the 500 NHS clinicians who are on the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme. The module is an introduction to the first evidence-based framework for PPIE, launched by the University of Plymouth, the AHSN Network (the national voice of the 15 academic health science networks in England) and Boehringer Ingelheim UK & Ireland. It helps to fast-track learning for the EnACT principles described in the framework, outlining how to involve patients in product innovation and critical issues such as data privacy, intellectual property, inclusivity, reimbursement, useability, and recruitment of patients.