Three leading pharmacists - professor Mahendra Patel, Asif Aziz and Ade Williams - have been recognised in Queen Elizabeth's annual New Year's honours list.
Professor Patel, an academic pharmacist from West Yorkshire, was awarded an OBE for his "services to pharmacy." He told Pharmacy Business: "I am truly honoured and deeply humbled by this highly prestigious award that I have always believed was more deserving for others.
"That's not to say I'm not proud of it - far from it, although for me it's not necessarily about rewards and recognition but more the intricacies of the journey I embark on and the learning and joy that those encounters bring with it.
Most recently, Professor Patel - who has had a broad ranging portfolio career spanning community pharmacy, health education and health promotion, academia, and research - has been involved in promoting clinical trials across community pharmacies in the UK.
His latest work has seen him act as one of the national leads for the PRINCIPLE and PANORAMIC trials, run by Oxford University - both trials seek to pioneer repurposed and new drug treatments in the community to prevent hospitalisation due to Covid-19.
A news report suggests the Department of Health and Social Care is aiming to be ready to start charging for Covid-19 tests which are currently free at the end of June.
Britain has been increasingly dependent on rapid testing to try to tackle the more-transmissible Omicron variant, which has spread rapidly through the population but is less severe.
The government has previously said it will end the universal free provision of easy-to-use lateral flow devices (LFDs) at a "later stage", with individuals and businesses bearing the cost.
The Department of Health has declined to say what the tests cost, citing commercial contracts. One source has told the Reuters news agency they can run to £30 for a pack of seven.
Free pick up from pharmacies
The tests have been made freely available to order online or pick up from local pharmacies since April. The UK Health Security Agency said that between December 30 and January 5 more than 8 million LFDs were conducted, the highest weekly figure on record.
As part of its inclusion and diversity strategy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a campaign to challenge barriers to working in pharmacy for those with disabilities.
A profession-wide survey on the subject conducted by the RPS, identified disability as the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy, highlighting the area of work to support pharmacists.
The campaign will focus on reducing barriers to enter the profession, developing more accessible working environments and encouraging employers to collect data on disability in the workplace.
The campaign, based on inputs from the RPS Ability Group volunteers with visible and non-visible disabilities, will run until the end of March.
Following recommendation of the RPS Ability Group, RPS has written to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) the Higher Education Occupational Practitioners (HEOPS) to update the guidance on standards of medical fitness for pharmacy students.
Independent pharmacies played a leading role in administering Covid-19 vaccines in the country, latest data compiled by the National Pharmacy Association has revealed.
According to the latest research conducted by the NPA and PharmData, independent community pharmacies were the biggest deliverers of Covid vaccines during January -
September 2021 as compared to corporate-run pharmacy sites.
The PharmData figures which looked at 610 pharmacy sites around the country showed that 85 per cent of them were independents, most of whom are NPA members.
NPA chief executive Mark Lyonette said: "These figures show us that flexible, locally engaged, entrepreneurial independent community pharmacies are making a huge contribution to the vaccine programme.
The government has launched a new campaign over social media and radio today (January 10) to encourage pregnant women to take their first, second and third dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Joined by experts at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the campaign highlights the risks of the infection and benefits of vaccination.
According to the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Covid-19 vaccinations are safe for pregnant women.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) chief scientific adviser professor Lucy Chappell, said: "We have extensive evidence now to show that the vaccines are safe and that the risks posed by Covid-19 are far greater," calling upon pregnant women who have yet to have their jabs.
The campaign will also run testimonies of pregnant women who have had their jabs.
The NHS is going to launch a new campaign using the iconic Beatles song 'Help!" to encourage people to take better care of their mental health.
The campaign, being launched today (January 17), is backed by some of the UK's biggest artists, urging people to seek support for their mental wellbeing.
Since the beginning of the pandemic around 2.3 million people have come forward for NHS talking therapies, with over 50 per cent being concerned about their mental health last year.
The NHS is encouraging anybody experiencing anxiety, depression, or other common mental health concerns to experience how talking therapies can help them.
NHS mental health talking therapies are a confidential service run by fully trainedexperts that can be accessed through self-referral or GP practice.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, the American owner of Boots UK, could risk losing billions after a private equity firm interested in buying its UK high street
pharmacy chain valued the retailer at a steep discount, The Telegraph reported on Monday (April 11).
"Buyout funds CVC and Bain indicated that they were willing to pay just £4bn for the business," the newspaper said, adding that "the consortium bowed out of the
running" in March.
The US retail giant Walgreens, which acquired Boots in 2014 for £9bn, has put a £7bn price tag on the UK pharmacy retail chain after selling its wholesale arm,
Alliance Healthcare, last year.
Citing city sources, the newspaper said the low valuation of the pharmacy multiple was "significant" because CVC's UK operations were led by Dominic Murphy, a
Walgreens board member involved with Boots for 15 years.
"He (Murphy) knows where the bodies are buried," the newspaper quoted one City source as stating. A spokesperson for Boots confirmed that CVC and Bain never
lodged a formal offer for the company.
A leading pharmacist and member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Scottish Pharmacy Board has been chosen to share her experiences of working in a community pharmacy in Scotland.
Catriona Sinclair FRPharmS will speak at a roundtable entitled 'International Experiences in Professional Pharmaceutical Health Services' in Madrid on Thursday
(May 5).
Catriona, who owns and runs a pharmacy in the Highlands, is expected to give her take on community pharmacies' significant contribution towards achieving improved
health outcomes and reducing health inequalities for local populations in Scotland.
As an active independent prescriber, she is at the cutting edge of the profession in Scotland.
Speaking ahead of her visit to Madrid, Catriona said: "I'm honoured to have the opportunity to collaborate with pharmacists from across Europe, and to share my
experiences of working as a community pharmacist in Scotland.
Private healthcare provider CityDoc has partnered with the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) in its bid to widen a "nationwide network of vaccine clinics" to
increase footfall to community pharmacies that come onboard.
The company says NPA member pharmacies that join the network will have their own dedicated page on the CityDoc website, while benefiting from having online marketing
done on their behalf via an extensive Google AdWords campaign and local listings optimisation - all paid for by CityDoc.
The participating pharmacies will also have access to their own booking system, marketing materials and access to the latest vaccine and private healthcare
information.
NPA member Nick Daines, who runs Lifestyle Pharmacy in Bath, said he has partnered with CityDoc for six years and seen "a significant increase in revenue from
private services."
He added: "The CityDoc partnership has allowed us to establish Lifestyle Pharmacy as a go-to venue for healthcare within Bath.
"We have seen significantly increased footfall thanks to our partnership with CityDoc, which in turn has allowed us to grow the NHS and retail aspects of the business."
Today, pharmaceutical companies can't simply make an effective drug and count on healthcare providers (HCPs) to come to them - they have to find innovative
ways to attract them. Statista shows that in 2015 there were only 3,286 pharma companies with active research and development pipelines. In 2023, this number
jumped to more than 5,500.
As an earth-shattering number of new drugs are flooding the market each year, HCPs are having a hard time determining the best medicine for their patients.
Meanwhile, pharma companies invest more in marketing to help HCPs get rid of choice paralysis and make them choose their solution over that of competitors.
In this article, we will share the tried-and-true tactics to build a strong pharma brand.
Get creative with interactive email marketing
One…two…three…No, we're not counting to run a marathon. Three seconds is what you've got to pull your reader in with your email. Fail to quickly grab the
audience's attention? We've got some bad news for you. Nobody's going to bother reading about how amazing your pharmaceutical product is if you're churning
out generic emails with artificial intelligence tools.
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.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) brought together a wide range of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy organisations from across Scotland at
the Scottish Parliament on Monday (3 October) to support people living with disabilities.
The meeting was chaired by Jeremy Balfour MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Disability, and the meeting was also attended by the Chief
Pharmaceutical Officer Alison Strath.
Attendees of the meeting committed to bold actions to support people living with seen and unseen disabilities to work in pharmacy.
Last year, a survey of RPS members identified that living with a disability was considered to be the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy.
This year, RPS is running a disability in pharmacy awareness campaign, to highlight some of the barriers and challenges raised by RPS members and to work with
stakeholders across pharmacy to overcome these. Yesterday's conversation at the Scottish Parliament was a significant step in achieving this.
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."
Being able to access high-quality healthcare at the times you need it most is vital. Regardless of whether this is a simple check-up, a medical review or
complex surgery, having a suitable healthcare package designed according to your medical needs will be beneficial in the long run.
The NHS has recently come under significant strain. Factors such as an increase in the number of patients, reduced funding and increased life expectancy have led to
long waiting times and limited treatments.
As a result, more individuals are now seeking private healthcare which, while it may be more expensive, offers faster and more effective treatment. Here we'll discuss
some of the main benefits of private healthcare and why it is becoming the ideal choice for healthcare in 2023.
Reduced waiting times
One of the main issues faced by the NHS is waiting times, with some patients being made to wait up to a year for routine hospital care. Currently, ambulance services
and A&E units are under unprecedented pressure and it is estimated that hundreds of deaths each week are associated with admission delays.
Understaffing has been a chronic issue in recent years in the NHS and is a major threat to the welfare of patients. This has been one of the major concerns that has
led to nurses and ambulance staff taking strike action. As nurses and hospital workers are put under higher strain, they are more likely to make mistakes, which
could well lead to patients coming into harm and making a claim.
Opting for private healthcare guarantees that you are able to access your appointments, surgeries and treatments much quicker, with some flexibility offered to align
with your lifestyle. The capacity to bypass the painfully long waiting times ensures you receive the necessary medical attention much sooner and could prevent the
emergence of other health complications.
Thousands of people in Britain infected with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood transfusions will receive a compensation payment decades after
the scandal, the government announced on Wednesday (August 17).
The payment of £100,000 ($121,000) to each victim is an interim one after Brian Langstaff, the chairman of a public inquiry into the long-running scandal, last
month recommended making immediate payouts before waiting for an ongoing inquiry to conclude.
The former High Court judge said that the "moral case for compensation is beyond doubt".
The government said the tax-free payments, to survivors of the scandal and bereaved partners of the thousands estimated to have died from the contaminated blood,
would be made by the end of October.
Thousands of people with haemophilia contracted hepatitis C and HIV after receiving blood transfusions, mainly from the United States, through the NHS in the 1970s,
1980s and 1990s.
Due to a shortage of blood products in Britain, the NHS bought much of its stock from US suppliers whose donors, including prisoners and other groups at high risk of
infection, had been paid for their blood.
The Conservative Party Prime Ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak visited Bassett Pharmacy in Southampton on Wednesday (Aug 24) - the pharmacy that used to be
run by his family.
During the visit, Sunak is reported to have said that he intends to reform the NHS and achieve value for money from health spending, should he become prime minister.
Giving his reaction to the visit, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chief executive Mark Lyonette said: "If Rishi Sunak is serious about NHS reform, he would do
well to start with a 'pharmacy first' approach to prevention and treatment which has the potential to transform the way people access NHS care.
"That can only happen with a sustained increase in funding for our sector, which is facing much harder times now than it ever did when Mr Sunak's parents owned a
pharmacy years ago."
Earlier in the week, NPA board member Hiten Patel met the former chancellor when he visited West Harrow for a campaign event on August 23. Patel took the opportunity
to explain that pharmacies in England are not being properly supported to fulfil their potential within the NHS.
Pharmacy bodies and MPs discussed on support needed to unlock the "full potential" of community pharmacy at the All Pharmacy Party Group (APPG)'s general
meeting held in Westminster on Tuesday (01 November).
The attendees of the meeting were Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee; Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of The
Company Chemists' Association; Thorrun Govind, Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society; Sanjeev Panesar, National Pharmacy Association Board Member, and Pharmacist
Superintendent and Owner of the Pan Pharmacy Group; and Sandeep Dhami, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies member and superintendent at MW Phillips Chemist
At the session, 18 parliamentarians were briefed on the myriad of ways pharmacies contribute to the health of the nation.
The panel of experts also highlighted that pharmacists are 'running out of fuel' with the growing challenges such as flat funding, workforce shortages and the
cost-of-living crisis impacting pharmacies' ability to deliver vital services.
A pharmacy group operating in London and the surrounding areas has said it's cliched a financial deal worth £4.25 million with a major global bank to bolster
its mergers and acquisitions activity.
Osbon Pharmacy Group said on Monday (19 June) that it would use the multi-million-pound funding package from HSBC UK to also invest in bringing accessible and
comprehensive medical services closer to the doorstep of Londoners and people of South East England.
The family-run business said the new money will open new position which will include opportunities for pharmacists, pharmacy assistants, pharmacy technicians,
dispensers, accounts clerks and delivery drivers, taking the company's total headcount to 185.
The group, which currently has 26 pharmacies across London and South East England, was established in 2005.
The company offers a range of medicine and prescription services as well as offering customary help and advice. It switched to banking with HSBC UK last year as
part of a £6.9M refinance package, which saw the business acquire nine pharmacies and takes the total funding provided by HSBC UK to date to £11.1m.
Glenmark, a multinational pharmaceutical company, has partnered with AI data-driven supply chain management platform 7bridges.
Initially focusing on their European business, where they have operations in 15 markets, the supply chain and logistics function is a big focus area for this cost
reduction.
The partnership with 7bridges will allow Glenmark to baseline their supply chain data giving them visibility of data, cost and service performance across their
network of logistics service providers.
This exercise will identify areas where invoices from their logistics service providers are being incorrectly or overcharged. With automatic dispute raising,
savings will be quickly achieved. The platform will then enable Glenmark to benchmark their data, so they can compare the performance and cost of their LSPs to the
wider industry.
With Glenmark's global vision to emerge as a leading integrated research-based global pharmaceutical company, this investment in their supply chain will be integral
to achieving this.
The next step in the partnership will be to run simulations to optimise road freight services and 3PL operations, with the aim to then roll out globally.
Chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee Janet Morrison has said government ministers are looking at the future of community
pharmacy in England in a "bigger way" and have a vision to go "beyond the Scotland model".
"I think they believe they're going beyond the Scotland model," she said, in her closing keynote at the 7th Annual Pharmacy Business Conference held in London on
Sunday (May 14).
Giving her views on the latest government funding - worth £645 million - for community pharmacy, the head of pharmacy negotiator, added: "Their thinking is for the
future in a bigger and a more forward-thinking way."
She added it was for the first time that community pharmacy has been seen "as part of primary care in a really fundamental way that gives us hope for the future".
Morrison said the new funding uplift was effectively "for five quarters of activity," arguing that the common condition service won't start before December or early
in the New Year due to the time it would take to get the IT systems up and running to support the rollout.
