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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is calling on NHS England and its member to pause and reflect before further implementing the pharmacy contraception service. NPA board met on Tuesday (25 April) to discuss the Pharmacy Contraception Service and the board decided that - with the community pharmacy sector at breaking point - it cannot support the immediate roll out of this service. The association believes that with no new funding for the service, and all existing funds in effect already allocated to other pharmacy activity, any payments to the sector for delivery of the oral contraception service will ultimately be clawed back by NHS England. Tweeting after the meeting yesterday, the NPA said: "We can't tell pharmacy owners what they can and can't do. But we can tell them the facts; fact number one is that with no new funding currently available everyone will be a loser from the implementation of this service on the current terms." NPA Vice-Chair Jay Badenhorst added: "We cannot be expected to take on more and more services without the increase in funding necessary to deliver them effectively. Meanwhile, taking on additional work when current workload already exceeds capacity risks impacting negatively on the overall quality of care people experience in pharmacies. We still believe this could, in future, be a great new pharmacy service, but not without the extra funding necessary to deliver it safely and effectively. We want to offer women this extra support, but if it's worth doing it's worth doing properly."

Data crunched by an online pharmacy delivery company paints a concerning picture for the pharmacy sector in England. Gophr's 'Prescription For Pressure' initiative reveals a challenging time for the sector and is supported by separate analysis by the BBC showing that the number of pharmacies in England is at its lowest since 2010. In addition, new powers being introduced for pharmacists to prescribe common prescription drugs and perform routine tests create an even greater workload for already overstretched pharmacists. Gophr's data reveals that: * Each pharmacy in England serves an average of 6,078 people. * In 2022, pharmacists dispensed 1.043 billion prescriptions, 26.3 million more than 2021. * A single pharmacy in England dispensed 248 prescriptions a day on average in 2022. Based on the most up-to-date statistics from the Office for National Statistics, NHS England and Statista, Gophr's calculations show that pharmacists have around 116 seconds to dispense a prescription, which is less time than the 180 seconds it takes to make a Quarter Pounder at McDonald's.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is refreshing its Professional Standards for Homecare Services and will be shared for consultation in August to allow comment and input on the updated content. The final version is expected to be completed in the autumn. The standards were originally published in 2013 and are a framework to support teams providing and commissioning homecare services. Homecare medicines services deliver medication, and any necessary associated care, direct to the patient's home with their consent. The standards help patients experience a consistent quality of homecare services, irrespective of provider, will protect them from avoidable incidents and help them get the best outcomes from their medicines. Jennifer Allen, The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer's Clinical Fellow leading the refresh at RPS said: "It has been 10 years since the first set of Homecare Standards were published, so it is important that they are reviewed and brought up to date to reflect current service design, medicine pathways and delivery models to ensure patients receive safe and effective medication supply and associated care."

A Company Chemists' Association (CCA) analysis has shown that 'Pharmacy First' service in England could free up 30m+ GP appointments each year. It has urged the Government and NHS to be even 'bolder in their ambition and go further and faster'. The recent 'Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care' announced a 'Pharmacy First' service for England, mirroring similar approaches in Scotland and Wales. The association has estimated that with the added capability to supply non-prescription medicines and prescribe additional prescription-only medicines, an ambitious 'Pharmacy First' service could free up 30m+ GP appointments annually. Harnessing community pharmacies to deliver care for minor health conditions will effectively create 11,000 urgent care centres in England.

The Council of the Pharmaceutical Society NI (PSNI) to remove the two-year requirement as a registered pharmacist to have an Independent Prescriber (IP) annotation on the pharmacy register in Northern Ireland. It has further endorsed that the two-year requirement for entry onto stand-alone pharmacist independent prescribing courses be removed and replaced with an assessment before admission, by course providers, based upon guidance provided by the regulator. In conjunction with the Department of Health, the PSNI will now work towards a further public consultation on the necessary legislative changes. Dr Jim Livingstone, president of the PSNI, said: "The Department of Health has set a clear direction which will see pharmacist independent prescribers becoming increasingly important in the delivery of pharmacy services in Northern Ireland. Our role is to protect the public, but we are clear that our regulatory objective should not be an unnecessary barrier to the development of the profession and enhanced services being provided to the public."

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched a four point plan at its parliamentary drop-in event for MPs and peers hosted on Tuesday (15 November). The event lasted for two hours, during which MPs had the opportunity to drop-in and have their blood pressure measured by pharmacists with experience of working on the front-line and were briefed on the urgent need for action to address the pressures on the sector. Outline of the four-point plan: Resolve the funding squeeze: Community pharmacy needs an immediate funding uplift to prevent large-scale pharmacy closures, as well as emergency business relief to get through this winter. Tackle regulatory and other burdens: Pharmacies must be protected from medicines market shocks, supported to help them weather the workforce crisis, helped to free up capacity and freed from red tape that does not enhance patient care. Help pharmacies to expand their role in primary care: Pharmacies could do more to support the delivery of primary care for example through offering clinical services for long-term conditions - like hypertension, diabetes and respiratory disease, supporting people to adopt healthier lifestyles and prevent the development of long-term conditions, medicines optimisation, and a much wider variety of NHS vaccinations.

AAH Pharmaceuticals Ltd (AAH) has exceeded the milestone of delivering over 70 million COVID-19 vaccination doses across England, since it was awarded a contract in December 2020. In addition, AAH has delivered over 100 million ancillary items to more than 3,000 healthcare providers. David Bound, chief executive officer of AAH, said: "This is a huge milestone for AAH as we work tirelessly to support our communities. It's also a ringing endorsement of our delivery drivers, warehouse operatives, and specialist logistics teams and the determination, dedication, and passion they continue to show throughout this extraordinary period." The vaccination programme was also recognized by the Supply Chain Excellence Awards. Chris Emmott, senior project lead - Supply Chain, commented: "I'm incredibly proud that AAH was chosen for this job, particularly as we had the skills, the experience, and a great team to help facilitate the needs of the country. To get ready for a project like this, everybody's worked very long hours, they've worked weekends to get everything ready.

The Welsh chapter of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, along with ten other royal colleges and professional bodies, have renewed calls for the urgent transformation of mental health services to address increasing demands on the NHS in Wales. Representatives of the Royal College Mental Health Expert Advisory Group joined members of the Senedd in Cardiff to outline the work of the group over the past year and to explain why a well-trained, fully supported and equipped multi-disciplinary workforce is critical for the development of care for people with mental health conditions. To make sustainable change happen, the group is calling for a greater focus by the Welsh government and NHS Wales on the following: The critical changes needed to improve the delivery and structure of mental health services across Wales in community, hospital and specialist secure settings. Parity of access to mental health services for the most vulnerable patients, ensuring they have equal access opportunities that vulnerable patients would receive for physical health conditions.

Digital transformation is sweeping across the healthcare landscape. Fuelled by ambitious government policy, exciting innovation and huge injections of funding, it's hard for anyone in the sector not to catch a dose of digitisation fever. But digitisation is not a universal tonic, and it certainly isn't always a 'good thing'. In fact, there's a real danger to digitising healthcare. Such a fundamental change to the very nature of care delivery is an inevitably high-risk process: sometimes things or people get forgotten, vital processes stall, or new systems fail to replicate the strengths of those they replace. Take, for instance, the digitisation of pharmacies. Over recent years, the public's use of online-only pharmacies have boomed: in March it was reported that the number of items dispensed from distance-selling pharmacies in England, UK quadrupled between 2016 and 2021. These online providers offer an attractively convenient way for patients to receive their medicines; replacing a trip to a high street pharmacy with a package delivered straight to their door. On the surface, this digital solution seems perfect not only for young patients with busy schedules, but also for older patients or for those with restricted mobility who may struggle with in-person collection.

Talk of hub and spoke models has been rumbling on for as long as I can remember. The topic has once again hit the headlines as the government announced a fresh consultation for its proposed changes, calling on all interested parties to submit their views by 8th June. The argument for hub and spoke is to allow independents to have the same level playing field as the larger groups who have been operating this model for some time. The government also sees significant efficiency gains in centralisation, arguing this will free pharmacists time away from dispensing to focus on clinical services. The latest consultation advocates two models being created. In the first model, the dispensed medication is sent back to the spoke. In the second model, the completed medication can be sent out directly to the patient. The latter is a new concept which could open up new opportunities in how services are delivered. Pharmacies could effectively outsource the entire dispensing and delivery to housebound patients and care homes allowing pharmacies to take on new business without having to worry about logistics and geography.

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.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has refused to accept the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)'s decision to get rid of 'transitional payments' from February 2023. The pharmacy negotiator said that 'any reductions in payments at this point will be impossible for community pharmacy contractors to manage financially.' "We are also continuing to be clear with officials and ministers that CPCF funding needs an urgent uplift to help businesses to cope with soaring costs being driven by inflation and the workforce crisis. We put a comprehensive business case to the government for this uplift in the last CPCF negotiations." The latest 'transitional payments decision' by the Department follows the announcement last year that the value of the these payments would be phased down over the second half of 2022/23 and will be based on the latest monitoring and analysis of funding delivery. PSNC says it submitted a fully-costed bid for a 'Pharmacy First' service in its last round of negotiations alongside the case for an uplift to core CPCF funding. Both of these were refused.

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.

National pharmacy bodies have called on the government and NHS leaders to take appropriate action to keep pharmacy teams safe from violence and abuse. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - in collaboration with the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) - is supporting an important petition started by Mike Hewitson, a community pharmacy contractor, who has been threatened with stabbing and robbed in his own pharmacy. The PSNC and the other national pharmacy bodies strongly believe that no healthcare professional should have to deal with this, that and pharmacists and their teams should be better protected. It said: "Community pharmacies play an integral role in the delivery of primary care and most patients are highly appreciative of the hard work of local pharmacists and pharmacy teams from dispensing medicines and administering vaccines to providing medical advice and health monitoring services.

Ceuta Group has appointed Michael Yates as chief operating officer (COO). In his new role, he will focus on the exploration of future acquisitions to support the Group's growth plans and ensure it continues to provide innovative services and unlock new opportunities for its clients. Prior to joining Ceuta Group, Yates was associated with Procter & Gamble (P&G) for more than 25 years. His career started in the UK and progressed through senior commercial and managing director roles across Europe, Africa and Asia. During his time at P&G, Yates gained insight and experience in building brands in the UK and globally. He has broad category experience across food & drink as well as health, wellness and personal care, having worked with brands such as Pringles, Sunny Delight, Oral B, Vicks, Head & Shoulders and Pantene. With extensive international experience, Michael brings client-side knowledge and insight of successfully expanding brands and adapting business models for markets across the globe. His appointment bolsters Ceuta Group's leadership structure and will support the Group's growth plans and delivery of superior client service.

Pharmanovia, the lifecycle management company has signed a licence and supply agreement with Aquestive Therapeutics for its patented diazepam buccal film formulation across the EU, UK, Switzerland, and Norway, as well as countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)- up to 48 markets in total. Aquestive Therapeutics has been granted tentative approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for its diazepam buccal film for the acute treatment of intermittent, stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity (i.e., seizure clusters, acute repetitive seizures) that are distinct from a patient's usual seizure pattern in patients with epilepsy 12 years of age and older. Pharmanovia will be responsible for seeking appropriate regulatory approval across EU and MENA. Pharmanovia CEO, James Burt commented: "Pharmanovia and Aquestive are aligned in our mission to find new and innovative ways to enhance and revitalise iconic medicines. We have extensive experience with diazepam through the Valium brand and, together with Aquestive's unique PharmFilm technology, we're intending to bring a novel alternative diazepam delivery option to caregivers and patients at a time of critical need."

The pharmacy business is one of the most profitable businesses on the planet. However, the trends are changing and as we move forward in this digital world, we see a transition from traditional business practices to modern and digital business practices that change the whole scenario. In this era of advanced technology, if you don't keep up with the world, you lose the race. It is a fast-paced world where trends change every day, something might work today but it won't work tomorrow, it will be replaced with something better and more efficient whether it is a tool, a technique, a marketing strategy, or a manufacturing process. Everything is being replaced with better alternatives more than ever. Now it is time to realize this change and bring some new guns to your business arsenal. You can employ an auto attendant for your pharmacies, or build a website for online orders and deliveries. Online pharmacies are getting popular a lot and they are the future. Here are a few tips and tricks that you can use to run your pharmacy business like a pro.

If you have been injured on someone else's property, you may be wondering what evidence is needed to win your case. Property owners are responsible for ensuring that their premises are safe for visitors, and if they fail to do so, they can be held liable for any injuries that occur. In this blog post, we will discuss the types of evidence that may be necessary to prove your case and win financial compensation for your injuries. 1) DUTY OF CARE The first piece of evidence that you will need to prove your case is that the property owner owed you a duty of care. This means that they were required to take reasonable steps to keep you safe from harm while you were on their property. If the property owner did not live up to this duty, and you were injured as a result, they can be held liable according to Carpenter & Zuckerman lawyers. To prove that the property owner owed you a duty of care, you will need to show that you were an invitee or licensee on the property. Invitees are people who are invited onto the property for business purposes, such as customers or delivery people. Licensees are people who are allowed onto the property for non-business reasons, such as social guests. If you were not an invitee or licensee, the property owner may not be held liable for your injuries.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and BeWell are working together to help provide efficiencies and productivity that address the growing pressures within community pharmacy. BeWell's Pharmacy Management Platform provides robust solutions that include Patient Relationship Management, Omnichannel Communications and Engagement, Services and Bookings Management, access to patient records, NHS Login supported Patient Application, and repeat prescription capabilities for Pharmacy Website and Patient App that include integrations with Surgery Online Services. This single interoperable platform is also integrated with pharmacy PMRs, connecting back office and administrative functions with front-of-house digital patient experiences. In line with the NPA's vision, BeWell has taken a leading role in formulating a unique ecosystem of pharmacy partners uniting marketing agencies, PGD-based service providers, and delivery method partners - integrating their capabilities within the BeWell platform.

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.