The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called for a 'firm commitment' to prosecuting those making profits through the sale of DNP (2,4-Dinitrophenol).
It has also urged the social media companies to 'remove content promoting or selling DNP to further reduce harm'.
Legislation to regulate DNP will come into effect on 1 October 2023. On Monday (23 January) it was announced that DNP will be included in the 1972 Poisons Act.
President of RPS Professor Claire Anderson said: "DNP is unfit for human consumption and its main use is in the manufacture of explosives and pesticides. It is
sold by unscrupulous dealers to vulnerable individuals wanting to lose weight but has a dangerous effect on the metabolism and has led to 32 deaths since 2007 in
those taking it as a 'diet drug'.
"Including DNP in the Poisons Act is a positive move as it will restrict its availability, but what's really needed is an outright ban to reduce the risk to the
public. Australia has already classified DNP as a substance of such a danger to health as to warrant prohibition of sale and we'd like the UK to follow suit.
The Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) provide an opportunity to break the silo mentality in the health and care sector, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair
Andrew Lane told MPs.
While giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee on 6 December about the effectiveness of ICSs, Lane also poured cold water on newspaper reports
that community pharmacists will be drafted in to break the NHS strike, as he reiterated the call for a "properly costed and funded environment."
"We've been in different silos historically and ICSs are an opportunity to pull all systems together for the benefit of patients," he told committee members.
Lane pointed to dementia-trained pharmacy delivery drivers and the Discharge Medicines Service as instances where the influence of community pharmacy already
stretches beyond primary care into hospitals and social care.
"We've seen pharmacists prescribe and get UTIs off doctors' desks, so we are starting to release capacity [in the system] and we're on that clinical journey.
We welcome that, but it has to be with the right level of funding," he added.
Community pharmacies in England will continue to receive the free protective equipment (PPE) as the Government's scheme has been extended for another year until
March 2024.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that it will continue to supply all categories of PPE, free of charge, for frontline health and social
care staff according to demand until the end of March 2024, or when stocks run out.
Last year, DHSC implemented a new and improved portal platform for eligible providers to access free COVID-19 related PPE supplies.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Commitee (PSNC) said: "Community pharmacy teams can continue to order PPE from the NHS PPE portal for free for as long as
stock is available."
In its response to the Health and Social Care Committee inquiry into 'Digital Transformation in the NHS', the Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) has
highlighted issues concerning the NHS community pharmacy.
CP ITG, of which PSNC is a member, has urged that pharmacy teams should have access to up-to-date records information, e.g. from Shared Care Records, GP Connect
and Summary Care Records with Additional Information.
It has also stated that the Booking and Referral Standards (BaRS) should be extended so that future referrals into and from pharmacy can be communicated seamlessly.
In its written response, CP ITG said: "Ensure that BaRS is expanded and aligns with other referral IT standards such as GP Connect referrals. Ensure it is used across
community pharmacy, the GP sector, other health care sectors and across the NHS, and by all health IT suppliers, so that messages and referrals can flow smoothly
within and across sectors and patients can have a seamless experience and safe care."
The group has asked the Health and Social Care Committee to create a framework for the development of pharmacy IT to ensure IT suppliers are better equipped to
support pharmacy teams and their delivery of services.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) temporary register which was expected to close on 30 September 2022 will continue for the next two years following a
request from the secretary of state for health and social care.
The temporary register was set up in 2020 after the then secretary of state asked the GPhC to use its emergency powers in order to rapidly register pharmacy
professionals to assist in the national response to the Covid-19 emergency.
The UK government has made this decision, which is referenced in its new 'Plan for Patients' in England to enable health professionals on the temporary registers to
continue to support the health and social care system.
The Government had previously announced that the temporary registers established by the health professional regulators were expected to close on 30 September 2022.
The decision by the UK government to ask the regulators to keep the temporary registers means that pharmacy professionals on GPhC temporary register can continue to
practise.
British health officials on Wednesday (September 28) warned that increased circulation of flu and a resurgence in Covid-19 could lead to a difficult winter that
increases pressure on the already stretched NHS.
Warnings over a possible "twindemic" of Covid-19 and flu have been issued each winter since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, but Covid
restrictions that limited social contact have meant flu levels stayed low.
However, the government ended coronavirus restrictions earlier this year, meaning that social contact rates have returned to near pre-pandemic norms while immunity
to flu is relatively low.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that given the risk it was important those eligible took up vaccines against Covid and flu.
"There are strong indications we could be facing the threat of widely circulating flu, lower levels of natural immunity due to less exposure over the last three
winters and an increase in Covid-19 circulating," said Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UKHSA.
Global consumer healthcare company Haleon has launched a new centre of excellence for a global leader in consumer health which will bring together world leading
academics in human behaviour and frontline healthcare professionals including community pharmacists.
Unveiled at the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Congress in 'sunny' Seville, Spain on September 20, the Centre will operate as a community of healthcare
professionals and specialists in behavioural science, health psychology and the social sciences to solve some of the most pressing everyday health challenges.
Named the Centre for Human Sciences (CHS) the initiative will be the first major programme for healthcare professionals since the Haleon's launch on July 18 as an
independent, global leader in consumer health.
The Centre's mission is to support practising health professionals - pharmacists, pharmacy assistants and dental professionals - in serving their patients and
communities. Combining science with deep human understanding, CHS will bring expertise in physiology together with human sciences to deliver real world-solutions
and tangible interventions, resulting in measurable improvements in health outcomes through sustained behavioural change.
The Centre is facilitated by Robert Horne, professor of Behavioural Medicine at UCL School of Pharmacy, who started his career as a practising pharmacist but later
chose to become a behavioural scientist when he saw an opportunity to address issues around psycho-social factors that acted as a hindrance in pharmacy practice.
Speaking to me in an exclusive three-way conversation alongside Tess Player, the global head of healthcare professional & health influencer marketing at Haleon, on
the sidelines of the FIP Congress 2022, Prof Horne expanded on what the Centre was all about and how it would work.
"We've got some good ideas, but it's not a pre-filled prescription that we're going to deliver at scale from the start. What Haleon is t
Health secretary Sajid Javid and chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak have both resigned on Tuesday (July 5) after a slew of scandals undermined the
government of prime minister Boris Johnson.
Javid and Sunak sent resignation letters to Johnson within minutes of each other in which both took aim at his ability to run an administration that adhered to
standards.
The resignations came as Johnson was apologising for appointing a lawmaker to a role involved in offering pastoral care, even after being briefed that the politician
had been the subject of complaints about sexual misconduct.
In his resignation letter to Johnson, Javid said "it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership - and you have therefore lost my
confidence too".
He was appointed to lead the Department of Health and Social Care in June 2021, when his predecessor Matt Hancock quit after being caught having an affair with an
adviser, in breach of social distancing guidelines.
Boris Johnson has picked Steve Barclay as the new health secretary following the resignation of Sajid Javid, who stepped down on July 5 after saying he had
lost faith in prime minister's leadership.
Barclay - who had served as chief of staff of the prime minister since February 2022 - was previously a junior health minister in 2018, responsible for NHS workforce
and finance, before serving as Brexit secretary, chief secretary to the Treasury, and chancellor of the duchy.
He is the fourth health secretary after Jeremy Hunt, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid in the past five years.
In a statement on his appointment, Barclay said it was "an honour" to be take up the position, adding: "Our NHS and social care staff have showed us time and again -
throughout the pandemic and beyond - what it means to work with compassion and dedication to transform lives.
"This government is investing more than ever before in our NHS and care services to beat the Covid-19 backlogs, recruit 50,000 more nurses, reform social care and
ensure patients across the country can access the care they need."
Erection problems are common conditions that can affect adult men of any age. General awareness about erection problems has grown in recent years, and men's
partners and society at-large generally view it as a common condition. Indeed, 75% of men and their partners agree that they are a normal part of life for a man.
But despite progress to normalise the condition, the research points to the fact that men still feel responsible for erection problems.
The survey's key findings underscore the multi-faceted social pressure men feel to perform socially, professionally, emotionally, and sexually. 90% of men feel
expected to provide financial support, 80%+ feel they should be in control of their feelings, and 92% think it is expected of them to perform in bed.
Despite erection problems being commonplace, expectations about sexual performance complicate the situation and make a major impact on the lives of those it affects.
When men are confronted with erection problems, 60% expressed feeling disappointed. This disappointment, combined with the difficulty that 1 in 3 men have spoken
about it, has a strong impact on well-being. 36% of men feel their mental health has been impacted by erection problems and leads to a feeling of guilt, and 74% of
men feel responsible for difficulties in achieving or maintaining an erection.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has challenged price concessions imposed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on some
of the medicines.
It has raised concerns on the process for setting price concessions to senior government officials responsible for medicines supply, warning that the system is not
working in the current environment from a community pharmacy contractor perspective.
"When a new government takes over next week, this will be one of several urgent topics being raised by PSNC to new ministers, alongside the fuel price crisis,
inflationary pressures and winter pressures on pharmacy businesses," said PSNC.
The final update to August price concessions was announced yesterday taking the total concessions granted to a record 138 for August. PSNC said: "Of those, 99 were
in line with PSNC requests, but prices for 39 lines were imposed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC): those impositions do not match the purchase
prices reported by contractors and the evidence of market prices which we passed on to DHSC. In particular, the final imposed prices of Apriprazole and Temazepam
tablets has generated a lot of concern amongst contractors due to the large variation between their reimbursement prices and purchase prices during the month of
August."
Laura Wilson, Director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland discussed the future of the pharmacy workforce with Michael Matheson,
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care at the SNP conference.
The event, which took place on 17 October in Aberdeen, Scotland featured other health officials including Colin Poolman, Director of the Royal College of
Nursing; Kenryck Lloyd-Jones, Public Affairs and Policy Manager for Scotland, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy; and Chris Marshall, Deputy Editor at Holyrood
Communications.
The Scottish government has recently unveiled its national workforce strategy for health and social care, laying out its plans for achieving recovery, growth,
and transformation.
Wilson highlighted the challenges and opportunities for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland to attract potential pharmacists into the profession and encourage
them to stay within the profession.
"This was a great opportunity to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary the challenges which exist for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland and to highlight some of
the solutions which need to be implemented to ensure a pharmacy workforce in Scotland which is fit for the future," she said.
The fusion of the unique in-depth understanding of medicines by pharmacists together with the competence to prescribe offers will improve access to care and
increase capacity in the health system, said the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Director for England Ravi Sharma to Parliament at the Health and Social Care
Select Committee's inquiry on workforce on Monday (May 23).
However, he also stated that a new workforce strategy must support and harness the skills of pharmacist independent prescribers in clinical care with investment
in training, both for new and existing workforce; access to supervisors; protected learning and development time; and commissioning of services to make best use of
independent prescribers across care settings, supported by appropriate prescribing budgets in community pharmacy.
"We're about to see new generation of pharmacists independent prescribers that will make a huge difference to the clinical role of pharmacists to support patient care, but this must be underpinned by protected learning time and a more ambitious approach to commissioning new services to use their skills," Ravi said.
He spoke to MPs in Parliament at the Health and Social Care Select Committee's inquiry on workforce, highlighting the vital contribution of pharmacy teams during
the pandemic and called for action to support the current and future workforce.
Some of the key issues highlighted in the parliament included, the risk of burnout and the need to help boost staff retention; staff wellbeing, including a zero tolerance of abuse from the public; the importance of professional development and protected learning time to enhance patient care and support rewarding careers; the potential of new pharmacist independent prescribers and the need for investment in the current workforce and the need for better workforce data and a pharmacy workforce strategy.
Attempts to deal with record waiting lists for hospital treatment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of being derailed by a staffing crisis, which is being exacerbated by the Omicron wave, a cross-party lawmakers' report said on Thursday (January 6).
The report entitled 'Clearing the backlog caused by the pandemic' calls for a broader national health and care recovery plan - one that would embrace A&E, mental health, GPs, community and social care.
Hospitals are facing extreme pressure as they try to catch up on months of operations that have been delayed and suspended during the pandemic, as Covid-19 hospitalizations rise once more and self-isolation hits staffing levels.
There is a record 5.8 million waiting list for elective care, the Health and Social Care Committee said, adding that a recent surge in the Omicron variant has pushed cases to record highs and intensified pre-existing issues.
Health and social care workers in England, including those working in community pharmacy, will no longer have to have a Covid jab as a condition of employment from later this month, the government said on Tuesday (March 1).
The government had announced on January 31 that it intended to revoke the regulations that made vaccination compulsory, subject to the results of a public consultation.
The decision was taken because the Omicron strain of the virus was less severe than the Delta variant, and due to high rates of vaccination of people in the UK.
Health secretary Sajid Javid told parliament in a written statement that more than 90,000 health and social care workers and members of the public responded to the consultation.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called its member to to express their views and fill out the Department of Health and Social Care's hub and
spoke survey on the proposed model of dispensing.
The Society has urged its members to fill out the survey before May 20.
RPS president Claire Anderson said: "It is vital that RPS members have their say on issue that impact you in your roles. Currently only single legal entities
can make use of this model of dispensing.
"Our survey, which opened today, seeks your views and comments and will help to inform the RPS submission to this consultation."
The consultation on the proposals to enable all community pharmacies to access hub and spoke dispensing published by the Department of Health and Social Care
(DHSC) will run for three months and will close on June 8, 2022.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Thursday (May 19) said that an anticipated autumn Covid booster campaign would be aimed at
people aged over 65, care home residents, frontline health and social care workers and all adults in a clinical risk group.
The UK is offering a spring booster to the over-75s, care home residents and immunosuppressed people, and ministers have spoken openly of plans for a further
booster campaign in the autumn.
In interim advice, the JCVI stopped short of recommending another shot for all adults, though said the advice would be reviewed and updated.
"The JCVI's current view is that in autumn 2022, a Covid-19 vaccine should be offered to: residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health
and social care workers; all those 65 years of age and over; and adults aged 16 to 64 years who are in a clinical risk group," the UK Health Security Agency said
in a statement.
Prime minister Boris Johnson, who was fiercely criticised for his handling of the early stages of the pandemic, lifted Covid restrictions in England in February,
crediting Britain's quick initial vaccine rollout and the rollout of boosters with breaking the link between cases and deaths.
The government has announced a freeze to the NHS prescription charges, first time in 12 years, to help people ease with the cost of living and ensure
prescription medication remains accessible.
Charges for prescriptions will remain at £9.35 for a single charge or £30.25 for a 3-month prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), the Department of Health and
Social Care (DHSC) said, adding that the measure will help save £17 million.
The 12-month PPCs will remain at £108.10 and can be paid for in instalments, meaning people can get all the medicines they need for just over £2 a week, it added.
The NHS low income scheme will also help with prescription payments, with free prescriptions for eligible people in certain groups such as pensioners, students,
and those who receive state benefits or live in care homes.
"The rise in the cost of living has been unavoidable as we face global challenges and the repercussions of Putin's illegal war in Ukraine. While we cannot completely
prevent these rises, where we can help, we absolutely will," Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said.
"This is why I am freezing prescription charges to help ease some of these pressures and put money back in people's pockets."
The Department of Health in Northern Ireland has advised pharmacies to continue providing rota services on Easter after learning that many pharmacies are
unwilling to provide the services on Easter holidays.
"It is extremely regrettable that community pharmacy representatives have advised that access to rota pharmacies in some parts of Northern Ireland will be reduced
over the Easter holidays," department said.
They have also stated that despite a commitment of recurrent investment, support for new patients assessed by Trusts as requiring blister packs may be restricted.
These actions have the potential to impact on patients and other parts of the Health and Social Care system.
The department has also called the CPNI's demand to increase the funding up to 50 per cent in the sector "unrealistic" in the current financial climate.
It said: "Financial pressures across the entire NI public sector are severe with an extremely challenging health budget anticipated for 2023/24."
"The Department is therefore facing a significant funding gap just to maintain existing services and the whole Health and Social Care system is an extremely
unpredictable and fragile position. The core funding envelope available to community pharmacies in NI has increased by 16% over the past three years."
The Health and Social Care Secretary has announced over £175 million funding to boost genomics research in the UK.
Through this funding, the government aims to create the most advanced genomic healthcare system in the world.
"Patients with cancer and children born with treatable rare genetic diseases are set to benefit from earlier diagnosis and faster access to treatment, following a
£175 million boost to cutting-edge genomics research announced by the Health and Social Care Secretary today (Tuesday)," said DHSC.
The funding will enable research which could deliver world-leading genomic healthcare to patients, which involves the study of people's DNA.
"£105 million to be funded to kickstart a world-leading research study, led by Genomics England in partnership with the NHS, to explore the effectiveness of using
whole genome sequencing to find and treat rare genetic diseases in newborn babies," said DHSC.
"An initial £26 million to support an innovative cancer programme, led by Genomics England in partnership with the NHS, to evaluate cutting-edge genomic sequencing
technology to improve the accuracy and speed of diagnosis for cancer patients and use artificial intelligence to analyse a person's DNA, alongside other information
such as routine scans.