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A Orthodontic treatment should be carried out by qualified professionals round this time five years ago there was a surge in the reporting of people performing DIY orthodontics on themselves in their own homes. Mainstream media reported that video tutorials had emerged online with instructions on using small elastic bands to adjust teeth positions. What followed were some horrendous pictures of irreparable damage to people's teeth and gums. The trend escalated to a point where in 2017, the American Dental Association revealed that 13 per cent of patients had tried some kind of DIY teeth straightening appliance that had backfired. Now, we are seeing the situation further evolve, with private companies offering DIY orthodontic treatment under the term 'direct-to-consumer' orthodontics. The Oral Health Foundation is becoming increasingly concerned with the rise of the DIY orthodontic market and the potential harmful consequences it could have for millions of consumers.

As the new school year approaches parents won't just be in a flurry of buying new pencil cases and the next size up in shoes but also will be looking to stock their cupboard for their health needs for the next year. Along with the Supermarket's Back-to-School sales there is also the opportunity to help parents with a clever display of the top needed cupboard accessories with some smart recommendations to help with choices. Looking at the UK retail market it is also worth considering that we are seeing a push for sustainability in products with those touting green credentials starting to stand out from the competitors but with a backdrop of rising prices making price perhaps more important than ever. Cuts and scrapes One to definitely think about in the children's health range for back to school is plasters and wound cleaning preparations for those inevitable playground grazed knees, cuts and scrapes. With a focus on sustainability and some strong green credentials Elastoplast Green and Protect should be considered for any back to school health display with eco-friendly construction and a climate neutral product but there is also Patch Kids Bamboo Sensitive Plasters which boast being home compostable.

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.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has alerted pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy owners via email regarding new emergency legislation governing the prescribing and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones, commonly known as 'puberty blockers', for children and young people under 18 in England, Wales, and Scotland. The regulations apply to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, used to suppress puberty as part of treating gender incongruence or gender dysphoria in individuals under 18. Effective from 3 June 2024, new private prescriptions for GnRH analogues from prescribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who are not UK registered are banned from being dispensed in Great Britain for patients under 18. The emergency ban on these medicines will remain in effect until September 3, 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on 29 May, stating that the action has been taken to address risks to "patient safety."

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has urged the pharmacy contractors to follow appropriate procedures for unplanned temporary closures due to current workforce pressure, to avoid a breach of terms of service. "If the temporary closure is not for reasons beyond the contractor's control, this may be a breach of the terms of service," said PSNC. The committee also informed that in some areas, NHS England regional teams may ask contractors to complete a new notification form for any temporary closures that request more information than the standard form, for example, on the mitigating actions taken by the contractor. It added: "Completion of these forms is voluntary but may help to show NHS England that the closure was for reasons beyond the contractor's control, or that the overall circumstances of the closure, including time closed and steps taken to ensure patient and public needs are met, indicate that there is no public interest in taking any regulatory/performance action (such as a breach notice) against the contractor."

The UK government has announced plans to update legislation to enable more services and individuals to provide take-home supplies of naloxone - a life-saving opioid overdose antidote - over the next few weeks. Naloxone can immediately reverse the effects of an opioid overdose by reversing breathing difficulties. The medicine can be administered by anyone in an emergency. However, current legislation allows only drug and alcohol treatment services to supply it without a prescription to individuals for future use. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed on Tuesday (14 May) that more professionals, including nurses, paramedics, police officers, probation officers and pharmacy professionals, will be able to supply the medicine without a prescription to save lives. Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins warned that opioid addiction can ruin lives and it accounts for the largest proportion of drug-related deaths across the UK.

The country as a whole is facing uncertain and challenging times, and for our profession emerging from the second year of the pandemic, the pressures and stresses don't look to be easing up. It is undeniable that the wellbeing of those in our pharmacy family has suffered and many face emotional and psychological challenges in addition to immense workplace pressure. What do we know about the state of wellbeing within the profession? As the profession's independent charity, it is crucial that Pharmacist Support keeps abreast of the changing needs of the profession to enable us to meet the needs of those we are here to help. To do this, each year we collaborate with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to carry out an annual Workforce Wellbeing Survey. The last survey carried out was in the latter part of 2021 but nothing has changed since. And the results provided stark reading. Of the 1,014 responses received, many reported living with 'poor' or 'very poor' mental health and wellbeing. The survey results highlight a continued clear need for mental health and wellbeing support. Within the survey, it was identified that there is a very clear need for independent assistance, with many saying they feel unable to talk to their employers about their mental health issues. The need for our charity has never been clearer.

The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) has suggested regulatory levers to curb "potential competition risk" from hub and spoke dispensing. In its response to the hub and spoke dispensing consultation, led by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) last week, the competition watchdog said that a pro-active approach to monitoring the effect of hub and spoke dispensing and subsequent early consideration of any competition concerns was likely to be more effective and potentially less costly than any "ex-post enforcement any ex-post enforcement or unpicking of subsequently embedded competition issues". The competition watchdog has made a few suggestions to identify and remove the barriers to competition that might emerge with the new business models entering the market. It has asked the department to enable a "more level playing field". "Smaller independent pharmacies should, have improved access to automation and new dispensing models," it said.

The UK Health Security Agency on Friday said it had designated a sub-lineage of the dominant and highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant as a variant under investigation. BA.2, which does not have the specific mutation seen with Omicron that can be used as a proxy to easily distinguish it from Delta, is being investigated but has not been designated a variant of concern. "It is the nature of viruses to evolve and mutate, so it's to be expected that we will continue to see new variants emerge," Dr Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said. "Our continued genomic surveillance allows us to detect them and assess whether they are significant." Britain had identified 53 sequences of the BA.2 sub-lineage as of January 10, with updated figures due to be published later on Friday.

A person in England has been diagnosed with a rare viral monkeypox infection thought to be linked to travel to West Africa, health authorities said at the weekend (May 7). The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement the case, in a person who had recently traveled to Nigeria, was being treated at an expert respiratory infectious disease unit at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. "It is important to emphasise that monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the general public is very low," said Colin Brown, director of clinical and emerging infections at UKHSA.

In a significant move aimed at improving patient care and alleviating hospital pressures, the National Health Services (NHS) has expanded its same day emergency care services across the UK. This has resulted in thousands more individuals receiving rapid tests and treatment, effectively avoiding overnight hospital stays. Recent data paints a promising picture, revealing an 11 per cent increase in the number of patients discharged on the same day they were admitted as emergencies. This advancement translates to several patients receiving urgent care within hours, subsequently freeing up beds for others in need. Over the past year alone, an impressive 206,446 more patients have been discharged on the same day, amounting to 2,024,129 individuals in the year leading up to January 2024, compared to 1,817,683 in the preceding year. The successful rollout of same day emergency care to every hospital in England has played a pivotal role in easing bed congestion and reducing hospital admissions by up to 30 per cent in certain NHS Trusts.

There is a realistic possibility of large waves of Covid-19 infection in the future in Britain and such waves might even be considered likely, epidemiologists who model the Covid-19 pandemic to inform government advice have said. Prime minister Boris Johnson has ditched legal restrictions in England, saying that, while the pandemic was not over, Britain needs to learn to live with Covid. The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O) said the emergence of new viral variants was the biggest unknown factor in the medium-to-long term, along with waning population immunity and changes in mixing patterns. "Large future waves of infection that need active management to prevent detrimental pressure on the health and care sector are, at least, a realistic possibility (high confidence) or likely (medium confidence)," SPI-M-O said in a consensus statement published on Friday.

In 2023, almost 14,000 people in England are estimated to have died due to excessive waits in emergency departments, averaging more than 260 deaths per week, according to new figures from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM). The RCEM estimate is based on a large study of NHS patients published in the Emergency Medicine Journal in 2021, which found one excess death for every 72 patients who spent eight to 12 hours in an A&E department. Following a Freedom of Information audit of NHS trusts, the college has found that 65 per cent of people waiting 12 hours or more in A&E were patients waiting for a hospital bed. NHS data for England revealed that over 1.5 million patients waited 12 hours or more in major emergency departments last year. Based on the RCEM calculation, this indicates that over a million of those patients were waiting for a bed.

Lack of staffing and increased demand from patients is mounting unsustainable pressure on the NHS, putting patient safety and care at risk, a new poll of NHS leaders by the NHS Confederation revealed. NHS leaders in England warned that the service has reached a "tipping point" with nearly 88 per cent saying "the demands on their organisation are unsustainable." The survey, published ahead of the monthly performance figures for the NHS England, covered leaders across hospitals, ambulance services, mental health providers, community services, primary care and integrated care systems. It highlighted primary care, urgent and emergency care as greatest areas of concern, with record levels of demand on A&E departments and increasing bed occupancy rates.

Perrigo, one of the world's largest providers of self-care products has appointed Ronald van Workum as Sales Director Germany, Customer Strategy & Implementation DACH Cluster. van Workum will continue to drive the successful integration of HRA Pharma into the Perrigo network, with a focus on well-known brands such as Abtei, Compeed and Granu Fink. He most recently held the position of Head of Key Account Management for Perrigo in Europe, based in the Netherlands. Prior to joining Perrigo he worked for Procter & Gamble in several countries, including Singapore, and in various functions, including: Market Strategy Planning Manager for the Gillette brand; and in Europe as multifunctional Team Leader Emerging Channels. The company also announced Tobias Geiger has been promoted from his role as Finance Director of the Perrigo DACH Cluster, which he held since April 2020, to General Manager of the Perrigo DACH Cluster. During this time, he successfully supported the implementation and stabilisation of the DACH cluster. He also led several business optimisations with his teams, such as the implementation of SAP in Switzerland, process digitalisation and the creation of a DACH Finance Business Partner Model. Before joining Perrigo, Geiger worked for Sanofi for more than 10 years in various leadership positions in DACH and in Latin America.

The UK government on Thursday (8 May) launched a new plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a global issue that makes infections difficult or impossible to treat. This is the second phase of a series of 5-year national action plans, aimed at supporting the government's 20-year vision to contain and control AMR by 2040. With the launch of this new national action plan, the UK commits to reducing its use of antimicrobials - such as antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals - in humans and animals. Additionally, it aims to strengthen surveillance of drug-resistant infections before they emerge and incentivise industry to develop the next generation of treatments. There are also plans to expand initiatives such as the world-first 'subscription model' for antimicrobials, launched in 2019 as a pilot.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the appointment of Michael Matheson MSP as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in Scotland. Commenting on the announcement Laura Wilson, Director of RPS Scotland, said: "I would like to congratulate Michael Matheson on being appointed to this position. NHS recovery is vitally important, and pharmacy has a huge amount to offer this agenda. "Our current priorities include enabling pharmacists to take leadership of prescribing in all care settings, tackling health inequalities and advocating for change, implementing shared patient records between healthcare professionals to provide high-quality, person centred and safe patient care, improving pharmacists' wellbeing and tackling the climate emergency by encouraging sustainable and green prescribing across Scotland.

The National Health Service(NHS) has reported a record number of attendances at Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments and emergency admissions for any June, reflecting significant pressure on healthcare services amidst hot weather and recent strikes by junior doctors. Last month, hospitals across the UK handled over 2.29 million A&E attendances and more than 536,884 emergency admissions, marking increases of 3.1 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively compared to the previous year. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, acknowledged the strain on frontline teams: "Frontline teams are continuing to work exceptionally hard under significant pressure to provide the best care they can for patients."

Bas Vorsteveld has been elected as the new president of PAGB, the trade association representing the manufacturers of branded OTC medicines, self care medical devices and food supplements. Vorsteveld, who is vice president and general Manager of Haleon GB and Ireland, succeeds Neil Lister, managing director UK & Ireland and vice president at Perrigo. PAGB said the appointment comes at a crucial time for the consumer healthcare association as it looks to expand the role of self-care, secure a long-term favourable business environment for members, adapt to environmental challenges and continue to deliver excellent services for members. "We are so pleased to welcome Bas to the role of President. Bas has been actively involved with PAGB as a board member and we're looking forward to continuing our work with him. I have already seen from Bas's time on our Board that he combines great sector knowledge with drive, energy and genuine passion for what we do and we're so excited to have him as our President," Michelle Riddalls, chief executive of PAGB, said. "Bas's input and guidance as our strategy evolves over the coming years will be vital as we respond to new challenges as they emerge and make the most of the opportunities ahead."

The world has never been in a better position to end the Covid-19 pandemic, the head of the World Health Organization said on September 14, his most optimistic outlook yet on the years-long health crisis which has killed over six million people. "We are not there yet. But the end is in sight," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters at a virtual press conference. That was the most upbeat assessment from the UN agency since it declared an international emergency in January 2020 and started describing Covid-19 as a pandemic three months later. The virus, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed nearly 6.5 million people and infected 606 million, roiling global economies and overwhelming healthcare systems. The rollout of vaccines and therapies have helped to stem deaths and hospitalisations, and the Omicron variant which emerged late last year causes less severe disease. Deaths from Covid-19 last week were the lowest since March 2020, the U.N. agency reported.