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What skills does a pharmacist need these days? You'd think it would be sufficient to have a good understanding of pharmacy and the ability to offer a great patient service. Whilst this is true of course, the reality of the day to day role demands skills which most pharmacists have not been trained for as part of their formal qualification. At the very least, pharmacists find themselves responsible for running the pharmacy, managing people, managing processes and dealing with issues relating to customers, suppliers, surgeries, regulators and stakeholders. Even the most junior pharmacists quickly find themselves being accountable for the financial performance of their department and having to work within budgets or deliver on targets. Remarkably, despite the apparent lack of any formal training in these areas, pharmacists have been able to adapt and meet the challenges of whatever their job has thrown at them. Many pharmacists go even further, bringing out their inner entrepreneurial spirit to set up their own business. There are now over 6,000 pharmacy businesses owned by independent pharmacists, with this segment growing. Whilst pharmacists have historically adapted to their environments and picked up the necessary business skills, the rapidly changing landscape of pharmacy will require pharmacists to establish new skills to help ensure their businesses survive and thrive.

Drug testing is a crucial part of many people's lives. Whether you're applying for a job in the law enforcement field, military, or pharmacy industry, it can be difficult to find out what drugs are on your application. Luckily, there are new ways to test yourself at home to see if you have any traces of drugs inside of you. WHERE TO FIND DRUG TESTS There are a variety of at-home drug tests available on the market. Drug tests can be found at most pharmacies and online retailers, like Drug Test City. Some of these sites are free, while others charge a fee. Here are some tips to help you choose the right site for your needs: Make sure the site is reputable. There are many scam sites out there that will take your money and not deliver on their promises. Do some research to make sure the site you're considering is legitimate. Consider the cost. Some sites charge a fee for their services, while others are free. Decide what you're willing to spend before you start your search. Compare features. Not all drug testing sites are created equal. Some offer more comprehensive services than others. Take a look at what each site has to offer and choose the one that best meets your needs.

Moderna has joined one of the UK's leading pharmaceutical industry body, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) to expand its footprint and investment in the UK. The biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines will strengthen its footprint with the new state-of-the-art vaccine research, development and manufacturing facility in the UK. It will create valuable new jobs and build on the strength of the UK's life sciences ecosystem. The company is best known for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now developing a range of mRNA-based vaccines for a number of conditions. The ABPI represents companies of all sizes who invest in discovering the medicines of the future, including some of the world's largest, most innovative, and most successful pharmaceutical firms. Darius Hughes, UK General Manager, Moderna, said: "We are delighted to join the ABPI - this alliance is an important part of our long-term commitment to the UK and supports the wider significant investments in manufacturing, research and development we are making in this country.

Jeremy Meader has resigned as managing director of Numark after five years on the job, and having lead the wider PHOENIX group's sales and marketing teams for about eight years. A press release issued on Wednesday (February 1) said Mr Meader "has decided to leave the business to pursue his career outside of the PHOENIX group", the owner of Numark. It said: "PHOENIX thanks Jeremy for his commitment and dedication over the years and wishes him all the best for his professional and private future." Previous to joining PHOENIX, Mr Meader was head of sales at Alliance Healthcare, a role he took up in 2012 after serving GSK's Consumer Healthcare division for over 13 years in various capacity.

Novartis on Wednesday (February 1) predicted that core operating income would grow in a "mid single digit" percentage range in 2023 following stagnation last year, as the Swiss drugmaker prepares to spin off its Sandoz generics business. Full-year core operating income was broadly flat at $16.7 billion, it said in a statement, coming in slightly below market expectations of $16.8 billion. Adjusted for overall negative currency effects, group sales in 2022 advanced 4 per cent to $50.5 billion as gains from heart failure drug Entresto and multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Kesimpta were partly offset by competition from cheap generic copies of established MS drug Gilenya. Novartis said it was on track to spin off its generics unit Sandoz in the second half of the year as part of its effort to sharpen its focus on its patented prescription medicines. Analysts have welcomed a programme unveiled in 2022 to trim costs and cut 8,000 jobs and plans to focus on fewer therapy areas and drug technologies. But the market has been underwhelmed by prospects for medium-term growth from new drugs.

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."

HubRx has appointed Dr Sarah Passmore as superintendent pharmacist ahead of launching what the company called "the UK's first state-of-the-art automated pharmacy hub". Dr Passmore brings more than 20 years of pharmacy experience - having held key regulatory roles with Rowlands Pharmacy over a 11-year tenure, which also saw her involved in a number of pharmacy automation projects. Commenting on her appointment, Dr Passmore said: "As a pharmacist, who has spent more than 10 years working within community pharmacy, I'm excited by what a hub and spoke model for prescription dispensing can bring. "Pharmacists are highly trained in delivering clinical services to patients - and like me - it's often a part of their job that they thoroughly enjoy. The option of using hub and spoke to support dispensing prescriptions will give community pharmacists the gift of more time that can be spent helping patients. "I'm excited to join HubRx and for it to become the first state-of-the-art automated pharmacy hub designed for independent community pharmacists to launch in the UK."

It's no secret that the world of work can be dangerous. Every day, workers are injured on the job, and in some cases, these injuries can be quite serious. If you're unfortunate enough to find yourself in this situation, it's important to know what steps to take to get the medical care you need. There are several ways to get proper medical aid if you're injured at work, and each option has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. HEALTH INSURANCE If your employer offers health insurance, this will likely be your first port of call when seeking medical care after a workplace injury. The main benefit of using your employer's insurance is that it will usually cover the majority of your medical expenses. However, there are some drawbacks to this option. First, your employer's insurance may only cover treatment from specific doctors or hospitals. This can make it difficult to get the care you need on time. Second, your employer's insurance may not cover all of the costs associated with your injury, leaving you with a hefty bill. Very often, workers consider obtaining private insurance, especially if they're working as ex-pats or freelancers. It is good to note that in these cases, private insurance would then be used in combination with their employer's insurance, giving them a greater degree of coverage. However, even if you're only insuring yourself, this insurance can be beneficial because you'll be able to choose your doctor, and you may have a greater range of coverage.

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the importance of health. People are looking for ways to improve their health and live a longer, more productive life. There are many different places that people can go to work on their health, but some are better than others. Here is a list of the top six places to work on your health. 1) MEDICAL SPA A medical spa is a place where people can go to improve their health. medical spas offer a variety of services, including skin care, laser hair removal, and body contouring. They also offer a variety of medical treatments, such as laser surgery and Botox injections. Medical spas offer a number of benefits to their patients. First, they offer a wide variety of services that can help people improve their health. Second, they offer a number of medical treatments that can help people address specific health concerns. Third, they offer a relaxing environment where people can come to improve their health and wellbeing. No matter if you're looking for a medical spa in Alexandria, VA, New York, or any other state, they can be a great place to work on your health. Plus, if you're looking for a place to get health insurance, they can also help you with that.

Pharmacy bodies have welcomed the new minister in charge of the profession amid warnings that he will find the sector in a state that is "more fragile that ever" due to "untenable funding and workforce pressures". Neil O'Brien was re-appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on October 25 and was later assigned the pharmacy brief. The Conservative MP for Harborough - who will have a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including primary care and pharmacy - has taken over the position from Will Quince MP, who had a brief stint as pharmacy minister but remains at the department on a different role. O'Brien was was handed a junior minister's job at DHSC on 7 September 2022 in the government led by Liz Truss but fellow Conservative Quince was assigned primary care duties including pharmacy. Welcoming him to his new role, The Company Chemists' Association said that the minister would find that the community pharmacy sector was "more fragile than ever" with untenable pressures over funding and workforce.

Labour MP Barry Gardiner has raised concerns that the £645 million cash injection announced by the government for community pharmacy is, in effect, 'frozen funding' for the next two years. Speaking on Tuesday (May 9) on the BBC's Politics Live, Gardiner said funding for community pharmacies "was cut before 2015, then it was frozen and now the latest announcement says that it's going to be frozen for a further two years." He said with a current national contract, which already represented a 25 per cent funding cut in real terms, it was not appropriate to ask for community pharmacy "to take on more work" without adequate support. "I heard the prime minister earlier this morning (May 9) on TV saying 'we are investing more in pharmacies'. "No you are not. You just concluded a contract that says for the next two years it will be absolutely flatlined." He added that "there will be no more money" for community pharmacy and that steeply rising costs due to inflation were "eating into that contract's health". Gardiner said community pharmacists "do a phenomenal job" but regretted that from a total of just 11,000, some 700 pharmacies have been lost due to funding cuts.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has welcomed the government's defeat in the House of Lords on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. It believes that the proposed Bill, if enacted, would allow the government to dictate minimum levels of service during times of industrial action, enabling employers to name specific employees that they require in work. Those employees could then face losing their jobs if they failed to turn up to work on that day. Trade unions could also be fined if they did not force those named individuals to go to work. PDA director, Paul Day said, "This Bill should be of real concern to pharmacists and other health professionals. The idea of their employer being able to effectively conscript them to work or face the sack does not feel like a positive employment relations environment." The House of Lords has voted for key amendments to the Bill to prevent unions from being required to force workers to comply. This also prevents workers from being forced to work or face the sack and allows for greater consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny on the proposals which the Westminster government is trying to implement. The House of Commons will now be required to vote on the amendments over the next few weeks. Whilst the House of Lords amendments are likely to be defeated, it shows the degree of opposition there is to this Bill.

To help stop the pharmacists pay delay in Northern Ireland, the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) will present a motion on fairer pay to the ICTU Biennial Delegate Conference, taking place from 5 to 7 July. The PDA motion states, "…there are other employers within the health system, that echo Agenda for Change terms, despite the fact they are essentially private businesses contracted to the NHS, not actually public bodies. While echoing the pay structure has some advantages, these employers also seek to unnecessarily delay pay increases on the basis that the NHS changes are so delayed. The Universities in Ulster Schools of Pharmacy are ranked as some of the highest in the UK. They are gifting our population with high calibre graduates destined to provide excellent patient care. These pharmacists want to stay in a job that helps patients. They want to deliver the care that they have spent years of time and often thousands of pounds to render themselves confident and capable."

The UK must act swiftly to fend off competition if it wants to build the world's leading life sciences sciences hub, a new report suggests. A year on from the launch of the government's life science vision, the report commissioned by the the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said although achieving the ambition remained feasible, the UK would need an attractive business environment because its competitor countries were becoming more adept at attracting investment. To achieve the ambition of the vision, the PwC-produced report suggested raising pharmaceutical R&D investment in the UK to build a 'stronger manufacturing and research infrastructure', alongside better investment in, access to and uptake of innovative medicines. It said the UK would also need to adopt a renewed approach to the priority healthcare challenges identified in the government's 'Life Science Vision', which would mean cutting the overall burden on health of dementia, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease and mental health. The report quantified the size of the prize if the vision was implemented in full and the UK could emulate the successes of leading EU countries, which included: £68 billion in additional GDP over 30 years, owing to increased R&D investment £16.3 billion additional annual GDP from increased pharmaceutical exports Supporting 85,000 additional jobs Up to 40 per cent decrease in disease burden across the whole UK - for areas like cardiovascular disease, mental health conditions and Cancer. Reduced variation in speed of access to new medicines within three months of licensing for all NHS patients.

Healthcare has a strong relationship with technology. The modern structure of hospitals and medical facilities cannot function without the progress of technology. It is important to acknowledge the impact of technology to ensure that priority is given to the constant maintenance of innovation. Here are a few ways to understand how healthcare and technology operate together. TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS KEEPING UP WITH MEDICAL DEMANDS Healthcare has become increasingly dependent upon technology throughout the years. There is an almost infinite amount of equipment and machinery that is used on a day-to-day basis to help facilitate the care of patients. One aspect that needs to be acknowledged is the prevalence of smart technology within the hospital and healthcare spaces. Technology is being innovated, and it is only a matter of time until hospitals see such advancements be applied more often, as funding increases alongside the development of new machinery and equipment. These include the inclusion of artificial intelligence in order to assist and supplement healthcare professionals to do a better and more efficient job, providing better care for patients. Of course, such technology will need to follow trends of other industries first to ensure its safe use and application when dealing with patients.

Lloyds Pharmacy announced the withdrawal of pharmacy services from all Sainsbury's stores over mounting "industry pressures" faced by the community pharmacies. The company had 77 branches at the beginning of this year - out of which five branches closed their doors and transferred the ownership of the remaining 72 to others. It was announced in June this year that Lloyds Pharmacy branches in Sainsbury's will close its operation throughout 2023. The following decision came after "changing market conditions" put 2,000 jobs on the line across the UK. Four Lloyds Pharmacies inside Wales Sainsbury's stores closed within days of the announcement and one in the Roath suburb of Cardiff as well. The remaining 72 changed hands as confirmed by the figures obtained by WalesOnline on 5 October.

The employees from large drugstore chains staged an additional walkout at stores this week from 1 Nov to 3 Nov. Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid pharmacists launched a three-day walkout to push companies to hire more staff and improve working conditions. The majority of pharmacy workers in Kansas City called in sick or walked off the job as they felt it was harder to work with "minimal" help. Licenced pharmacist, Amanda Applegate, who is also a Director of practise development with the Kansas Pharmacists Association spoke on the plight of the pharmacists. "This is a nationwide problem that pharmacists have been internally yelling about for years."

Global instant logistics leader, Zipline is partnering with UK drone delivery startup, Apian Aero to launch a drone delivery programme of critical medical supplies for the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The new service, expected to begin in the autumn of 2024, will see delivery of medical supplies to hospitals, GPs and care homes, using electric, autonomous drones. Zipline announced the partnership on Sunday, and said drone delivery service will help provide timely access to prescription medicines, wound care products, joint replacement implants, and other frequently ordered medical products, which could allow healthcare providers to reduce the number of cancelled procedures, and thus decrease wait times. Also, the expansion of the programme will help in creating local job opportunities in the region, it added.

Amid the ongoing furore over shortages of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test kits that led pharmacy staff to bear customers' wrath, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Company Chemists Association (CCA) have jointly appealed the public to be "patient and courteous to pharmacy teams". In an open letter, the two organisations have urged patients and customers to be patient, courteous and safe while visiting their local pharmacies. Highlighting the efforts put in by healthcare workers to keep everyone safe through this tough winter, the two organisations said the pressure of Covid-19 and shortage of LFD kits have sometimes led to verbal abuse of pharmacy staff. Mark Lyonette, NPA chief executive said: "The vast majority of pharmacy customers and patients are polite and understanding. The supply situation with Lateral Flow Tests is stretching people's patience, but that's no excuse for abusive behaviour and people need to understand the constraints on pharmacy teams at this time." Alongside their routine job of providing medicines, health advice and a range of NHS services, pharmacies have put in extra effort to protect people during the pandemic.

Health secretary Sajid Javid visited Medicine Chest Pharmacy in London on Friday (January 28) and thanked pharmacy teams across England for delivering well over 20 million Covid-19 jabs. According to the latest research conducted by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and PharmData, independent community pharmacies were the biggest deliverers of Covid-19 vaccines during January 2021 to September 2021 as compared to corporate-run pharmacy sites. As of January 2022, pharmacies across the whole sector had delivered 22 million Covid jabs, with the majority of them being independents of whom most are NPA members. In a video message released after the visit, Javid said: "Today I am here at Medicine Chest pharmacy in London to thank them, all pharmacies, the NHS, for the fantastic job they have done particularly over the last few months to get our country boosted. It's because of this phenomenal success that today we are able to return to Plan A as we see Omicron in retreat and we learn to live with Covid."