The NHS Confederation and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has published a report that demonstrated the importance of the
collaboration between industry and the NHS to improve patient outcomes across the UK.
Analysis from the report has shown a significant variation in access to innovative medicines for patients across the UK and showed that uptake of new treatments
in these areas continues to be below the average of similar countries in Europe.
The report, 'Transforming Lives, Improving Health Outcomes', has highlighted four initiatives where effective partnerships between the NHS, patient organisations
and industry have helped to tackle unwarranted variation in the uptake of innovative medicines.
Transforming Lives, Improving Health Outcomes also called for a systemwide secondary prevention strategy covering all parts of the health system creating a barrier
to wider and consistent uptake of innovative medicine. It also noted that newly created Integrated Care Systems have the potential to improve preventative treatment.
The report data also showed a 51% variation of uptake of three types of medicines related to diabetes between NHS Trusts in England.
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.
Positive Solutions is set to launch its new, innovative, cloud-based medicines management system - HxCare which will be showcased in October at the Care Show.
HxCare will be free of charge to community pharmacies signing up to the HxCare Affiliate Programme (HxCAP) making it an ideal platform to support existing care home
business and attract new ones.
The cloud-based medicines management system aims to digitise workflows, reduce errors and free up care providers to spend more time delivering care to their residents.
Designed to be truly mobile, HxCare will be tablet based and has been developed by working closely with both care homes across the sector and their pharmacy partners
who relish the prospect of an eMAR solution that integrates into their Analyst PMR.
It is one of five new products being launched by Positive Solutions on the Hx platform this year.
HxConsult is already live supporting pharmacies looking to maximise their service revenue. HxIntel will deliver real-time dashboards, reports and insights into the
performance of pharmacy businesses of all sizes. My Health Hub will revolutionise patient pharmacy relationships whilst HxDispense is set to be the ultimate next
generation PMR system. This modular, cloud-based interoperable ecosystem takes healthcare technology to a new level.
The Health Committee's new report has reminded the government of a much-needed pharmacy workforce plan to support recruitment, training, and retention of staff.
The report makes a number of recommendations to optimise workloads across primary care, reduce pressure on general practice and hospitals, and support the integrated
care systems.
It also recognises the potential of pharmacist independent prescribers to support patient care, backed by appropriate supervision, training, and opportunities for
professional development.
RPS England gave evidence to MPs on the Committee at a public hearing in May, highlighting key issues to support the pharmacy workforce.
RPS director for England, Ravi Sharma, said: "Today's report underlines the urgent need for the Government to set out a comprehensive workforce plan for health and
care.
"It rightly recognises that boosting recruitment and retention, supporting staff wellbeing, fostering inclusion and diversity, and investing in education and
training will be crucial to the future of the NHS.
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.
Dispensing activity by community pharmacy in England has witnessed a 4.2 per cent increase across the year 2021 till March 2022, the Pharmacy Market Review
2022 report revealed.
The report launched by Christie & Co, said: "All pharmacy settings saw improvements in dispensing numbers, with standard community settings seeing the highest
increase of 4.2 per cent, with the average moving to 7,173 items, albeit still below the combined average."
"The independent sector fared better than corporate pharmacy, with a combined average increase of 3.5 per cent versus a 1.8 per cent increase in corporate dispensing.
Despite some improvement, integrated pharmacies remained the lowest at 1.9 per cent, in part due to the continued restrictions on patient access."
Dispensing activity for England across the year to March 2022 increased by 4.5 per cent to an average of 7,765 items per month, reversing the decline witnessed
in 2021.
The Council of Pharmaceutical Society NI acknowledged the contribution of pharmacy technicians in Northern Ireland on 'Pharmacy Technician Day' celebrated on
18 October.
The society said: "Today we mark Pharmacy Technician Day and wish to acknowledge the significant contribution Pharmacy Technicians and support staff make, as an
integral part of the pharmacy team, to patient wellbeing and care in Northern Ireland."
In June, Health Minister Robin Swann announced that he has approved work to begin to bring Pharmacy Technicians in Northern Ireland under statutory regulation by
the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.
The public consultation was launched in March 2022 on a proposal to introduce statutory regulation of the Pharmacy Technician workforce in Northern Ireland.
Whether you believe it or not, following a vegan diet can be quite eventful for your body. For instance, it can help you lose weight, get a better body
structure, and so on.
However, is that all? You can get that by following a thorough exercise plan as well, no?
Well, yes, you can. Nevertheless, following a vegan diet plan can help you out in more than a single manner. Please keep reading this article till the end to know
more about it.
WHAT IS A VEGAN DIET?
As a vegan, you can eat dairy food, including cheese and milk, without any boundaries. If you want to get a little bit of protein, you may consume eggs (boiled or
in a gravy) too. Also, yes, plants are going to be an integral part of your diet plan too.
However, you won't be able to eat meat anymore. So, no chicken, mutton, or beef for the rest of your life. Instead, you will need to focus solely on plant-based
protein.
BENEFITS OF FOLLOWING A VEGAN DIET
A plant-based diet structure can be highly beneficial for your health. For example, it can -
LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE.
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, can increase your risk of a heart attack. It's also known to be a close counterpart of type-2 diabetes too.
Fortunately, though, the diet you follow can make quite a massive difference here. For example, following a vegan diet can help you reduce the amount of oily food
you're taking on a daily basis.
This, in turn, can decrease the amount of cholesterol in your blood and make it easier for you to lose weight. And, the less obese you are, the lower your blood
pressure will be.
People who use pharmacies in parts of Pendle have suffered shortages or delays in buying prescription medicines such as insulin, councillors have been told.
In the Barnoldswick area, a number of pharmacies have been impacted and some councillors hope a new regional NHS organisation might look into the problems.
However, pharmacies in the neighbouring town of Nelson are facing shortages with other medicines. A pharmacists in Nelson Pharmacy told Pharmacy Business that he
was struggling to meet local demand for children's paracetamol due to ongoing shortages.
Pendle Council's West Craven Area Committee heard about the issues at its latest local meeting, held in Earby.
An agenda for the committee stated: "Pharmacy provision in West Craven. It is reported that there is an acute problem with people being unable to get prescriptions
filled, with Whitworth chemists suffering a breakdown in service. Previously, Well chemists has suffered similar problems."
Speaking at the meeting, Lib-Dem Coun David Whipp said: "It's quite an appalling situation where people are queuing 30 minutes to get a prescription filled but when
they get to the counter they are told it's not ready. They have to go home and come back at 5pm. It's an ongoing problem.
"It includes insulin, which is critical for people with diabetes. I know several people who have failed to get insulin, It's a very serious problem."
He added: "I think the committee should contact the local integrated care service. I think they are responsible for primary care which includes pharmacies. We need
to find out what's happening and improve things in future. "
NHS England has commissioned the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) to develop guidance that helps community and hospital pharmacy teams across Britain to
reduce the impact of pharmacy services, pharmaceutical care and medicines on the environment.
The RPS said the Greener Pharmacy Guidance will enable pharmacies to self-assess their impact against the standards, benchmark and improve through evidence-based
activities and actions.
"I'm delighted our strong commitment to helping pharmacy reduce its environmental impact can now be taken to the next level through developing guidance and
accreditation for pharmacy teams," RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said.
"Medicines account for 25 per cent of carbon emissions within the NHS and this initiative underscores our commitment to promoting sustainable healthcare and
supporting the NHS's goal of achieving 'net zero' emissions by 2040."
Peter Morgan, medicines assistant director at NHS England, commented: "Pharmacy staff are involved in the purchasing and dispensing of almost every medicine used
in the NHS and the new Greener Pharmacy Guidance and Self-accreditation scheme will provide support for pharmacy professionals by outlining clear actions to deliver
more environmentally sustainable pharmacy practices."
The RPS said the guidance and digital self-assessment toolkit will integrate with carbon calculator tools to help pharmacy teams to measure their carbon footprint,
action plan to reduce use of carbon and improve sustainability.
Charac, an NHS-integrated one-stop platform for independent community pharmacies, has secured £1 million strategic investment from the Royal Mail Group,
enabling its time-saving platform to assist more local pharmacies and patients across the UK to easily manage their prescriptions and consultations online.
The company said this new money will enable it to leverage strong levels of trust that pharmacists enjoy within the communities they serve in and will ensure
pharmacies remain a cornerstone of vibrant high streets and an invaluable provider of frontline healthcare products and services, including vitally needed
consultations.
Charac says it is aiming to sign up over 1,000 UK pharmacies in the next 12 months by expanding its geographic footprint beyond current cities, including London,
Manchester and Birmingham, and targeting small multiple and independent pharmacies, accounting for almost 40 per cent of the UK's community pharmacy network.
The announcement also sees the addition of Stefan Kulik, a managing director at Royal Mail, to the Charac board. Stefan is responsible for leading Royal Mail's
expansion into the healthcare industry and brings a breadth of experience, having previously worked in healthcare with companies including Johnson & Johnson.
The public awareness campaign for community pharmacy, 'Ask Your Pharmacist Week' this year will be on 31 October - 7 November, the National Pharmacy
Association (NPA) has announced.
Every year AYP Week is held across the UK, with an aim to raise awareness of pharmacy services and to prompt conversations with key stakeholders at a local
level about community pharmacy's role and benefits.
Activities in previous years have ranged from public exhibitions and window posters to social media campaigns, projects with patient groups and visits to pharmacies
from local dignitaries and politicians.
NPA Head of Communications, Stephen Fishwick, said, "AYP Week is an important fixture in the pharmacy calendar, as it creates a space for focused public awareness
activities to help customers, patients and stakeholders understand more fully the community pharmacy offer.
We want people to be more aware of long-standing and new NHS services plus the skills and expertise on offer in pharmacies across the UK. AYP also aims to cultivate
a richer dialogue with key stakeholders, which in England now includes leaders in Integrated Care Systems."
The recent announcement that Royal Mail will be partnering with distance selling pharmacy (DSP) giant pharmacy2U highlights how standards of regulatory
enforcement are being ignored to accommodate the DSP model.
The brunt of these double standards hinges around the levelling down of temperature enforcement standards by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) which demands mapping must be audited from the point of dispensing to the patient.
The MHRA has a well recognised duty to ensure medicines reach patients in a safe condition. The current anomaly appears to turn a blind eye to this step in the
supply chain at the point the wholesaler releases goods to the pharmacy hub.
Equally the training on delivering medicines safely and effectively direct to patients should apply fully to all hubs including DSPs. Why is it that DSPs are being
treated differently to bricks and mortar pharmacies? It's essentially the same patients receiving the same medicines from the same wholesalers.
A further regulatory disparity exists around how parcels must be "tracked and signed for" to be reasonably certain medicines are delivered into the hand of the
intended recipient, as per existing regulations.
Clearly an untracked, unsigned package cannot be guaranteed to finish in the hands of the intended recipient.
There is a very real possibility that such omission could lead to community pharmacy closures which will, in turn, lead to unemployment and a reduction in the
care services. At a time when integrated care systems have just gone live, the removal of vital support services leading to further inequalities is the wrong
message for both providers and patients alike.
Pharmacy2U has recently acquired LloydsDirect in a confidential deal, bringing together two of the UK's foremost online pharmacies. Over time, both entities
will integrate their operations under the Pharmacy2U brand, the companies said in a joint statement.
The two businesses complement each other effectively, and their teams will now work closely together to uphold the patient-centric approach and service quality
for which both are known individually, the statement added. However, there is currently limited clarity regarding the sale process and its impact on Lloyds staff.
According to NHS Business Services Authority data from PharmData, Pharmacy2U dispensed 1,528,436 items in June 2023, while LloydsDirect, previously owned by
LloydsPharmacy, dispensed 1,142,891 items. This positions them as the top two online prescription pharmacies for items dispensed, with Well.co.uk in third place
at 128,691 items.
Diabetes affects over 537 million people worldwide; by 2045, this is estimated to increase to 783 million. [1] With the growing prevalence of diabetes,
it's even more important to utilise all options to support people with diabetes (PwDs) in managing their daily life with diabetes.
Where do PwDs most often access healthcare support? On average, PwDs visit the pharmacy three-to-eight times more than the general population to obtain medicines
and testing supplies.[2] It is clear that pharmacists play an integral role in empowering the self-management needs of PwDs beyond the traditional role of
supplying medicines. This relationship, however, may be underutilised.
Research suggests there is a lack of broad recognition of pharmacists as a key source of diabetes care, and that resource constraints - particularly following
the COVID-19 pandemic - can interfere with patient education provision and training.[3,4] Furthermore, the circumstances and role of the pharmacy vary, nationally
and internationally. At Roche Diabetes Care we would like to shine a light on the increasing value of community pharmacists as important figures in the well-being
of PwDs.
The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has warned that England's 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) may need to allocate an extra £37 million
from their budgets annually for the next five years due to the spiralling tax rates.
The government's Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) rebate rate increased more than five-fold in the past two years, the BGMA said
in its white paper released on Monday (October 30).
The report, conducted by consultancy firm Conclusio in consultation with local NHS leaders, examined the potential effects of the VPAS on ICB budgets.
BGMA said that due to the elevated VPAS rate, each ICB in England will experience significant increases in expenses for branded generics and biosimilars
annually - a consequence of reduced competition.
After struggling with COVID, Hemant Petal is back to good health, and now he is on a mission to reduce "health inequalities".
Speaking at the SIGMA Conference 2023, he spoke about his new role as Clinical Lead, Health Inequalities and Population Health Management, SE Essex Alliance,
Essex ICB.
"So, my new role is outside pharmacy, nothing to do with pharmacy. But it is important, I feel that I share some of my insights about the work that I'm doing that
might benefit you," he said.
Elaborating on the role of integrated care boards (ICBs), he said that they are designed to enhance coordination and collaboration across different healthcare
providers and settings.
The representatives from hospitals, community services, retail and social care meet on a monthly basis to "look at where there are issues to be resolved, perhaps
what can be done to improve the healthcare services."
Duncan Rudkin, the CEO of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhc) has highlighted the importance of strengthening pharmacy governance to provide clarity
around how pharmacies are organised and managed.
This will ensure that patients and the public continue to receive safe and effective pharmacy care, he said while speaking at the annual Sigma Conference in
London on Sunday (5 November).
According to him, there could be rules that outlined the essential roles and responsibilities of responsible pharmacists, and professional standards for
responsible pharmacists, superintended pharmacists and chief pharmacists.
He also announced that the GPhC will be shortly launching a consultation to integrate a new set of standards for the statutory role of hospital chief
pharmacists "which up until recently has never been recognised in law." It is expected to be launched by early January 2024.
However, Duncan, emphasised that they cannot start the work on standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists until they know the government plans
in relation to supervision.
"Because of course, the responsible pharmacists' regime, and the supervision regime are in many ways intertwined, and can't certainly be looked at separately.
Pharmacists, councillors and NHS leaders came together at Portsmouth's first Community Pharmacy Summit to address some of the challenges facing community
pharmacy locally.
They explored ways to reduce the huge pressures on pharmacy, tackle abuse towards staff, enable pharmacists to undertake training to treat more illnesses, and to
protect the current and future workforce.
Portsmouth City Council, which hosted the Summit on Wednesday 15 November, also invited representatives from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, University
of Portsmouth, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board and businesses to discuss new opportunities to work together.
Held at Portsmouth Guildhall, the event was chaired by Cllr Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Health and Care, and Cllr Gerald
Vernon-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Transport.
Dr Amanda Doyle has been appointed as NHS England as director of primary and community care.
Prior to her new role, Amanda had joined NHS England and NHS Improvement as North West Regional Director on 2 August 2021 and previously she was the Chief
Clinical Officer for West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Blackpool CCG and Fylde and Wyre CCG.
Amanda was also the Integrated Care System Lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria, leading a large health and care transformation programme across the patch.
She has been a GP for more than 20 years, practising in a large practice in a deprived area of Blackpool, which, in addition to primary medical services, provides a range of urgent care services for patients across the Fylde Coast.
Amanda was the Co-Chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners from 2013 to 2018.
She was Senior Responsible Officer for the primary care component of the Long Term Plan and was involved in the leadership of the health inequalities, prevention and personalisation elements.
