Prime minister Boris Johnson received his Covid-19 booster shot on Thursday (December 2) and urged others to follow suit to help the country fend off the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Wearing a mask, Johnson briefly chatted to staff and others queuing for their shots at the vaccination centre in central London, asking them if they were there to receive a booster dose and thanking them for attending.
Johnson, who said it could "have gone either way" when he was treated in hospital for Covid last year, was later filmed rolling up his shirt sleeve and receiving his shot.
"Fantastic. Thank you so much," he said to the nurse, before receiving a badge that said "I've boosted my immunity".
A three-year contract has been signed between NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Pharmaceutical Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's (RPS) knowledge business, to continue the supply of trusted medicines information though MedicinesComplete, to healthcare professionals in Scotland.
The renewed investment from NES demonstrates unequivocal confidence in the publisher and highlights Pharmaceutical Press' ongoing commitment to provide practical and evidence-based guidance, supporting those who prescribe, dispense, and administer medicines. Essential resources include Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, Palliative Care formulary, Stockley's Drug Interactions and Critical Illness.
Relied on by healthcare professionals globally for use in everyday practice, clear and concise guidance through MedicinesComplete supports confident decision-making
at the point of care.
Will Quince, MP for Colchester and Health Minister visited Rowlands pharmacy on Friday (20 January) in Nayland Road in his constituency.
The important role played by pharmacies in providing NHS care, support, and advice helping the local community to live healthier lives and manage long-term conditions
were discussed among the pharmacy teams.
Mr Quince said: "Community pharmacy is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring people in Colchester have convenient walk-in access to the healthcare
support and advice they need.
Pharmacies are not simply places to collect prescriptions, they provide a wide range of services and are the third pillar of access to primary care alongside GPs and
A&E. I would urge people to think pharmacy first if they have a minor ailment; need advice on taking their medication; want to stop smoking or want to check their
blood pressure."
Northern Ireland's chief pharmaceutical officer paid a visit to a community pharmacy in Belfast on Monday (November 7) - marking the end of this year's Ask
Your Pharmacist week, an annual public awareness campaign launched by the National Pharmacy Association.
Cathy Harrison interacted with patients and staff in the pharmacy before recording a video to promote NI's 'Pharmacy First' service in which she described community
pharmacies as "one of the front doors to the health service" with over 500 outlets located across the country.
"In our community pharmacies you can always rely on friendly staff, medicines expertise, and walk-in access to face-to-face advice," she said.
First launched in Scotland, the NHS Pharmacy First service enables patients to have a consultation with a pharmacist for advice on minor ailments.
Ms Harrison also drew attention to community pharmacy's role in cancer awareness and helping people to quit smoking, as well as managing patients with urinary tract
infections, in addition to playing their part in delivering Covid-19 and flu vaccinations.
England's chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) David Webb has promised his "wholehearted support" for the community pharmacy sector at the board meeting of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) on 28 June in St Albans.
After hearing the CPhO at the meeting, NPA chair, Andrew Lane, later declared: "David is someone we can do business with."
Webb thus listed his priorities as head of profession: integration of independent prescribing as part of pharmacy practice by 2026; promotion of inclusive pharmacy
practice for all pharmacy professionals; assurance of post-registration practice; developing the role of pharmacy technicians; support for Integrated Care Systems
and Primary Care Network pharmacy teams (including community pharmacy); medicines optimisation; and strengthening of professional leadership for community pharmacy.
He also reported that NHS England had recently increased its team of regional pharmacy integration leads from seven to 14, creating seven new senior posts.
Webb told NPA board members: "I want sincerely to thank community pharmacy teams for everything they are doing and to say that you have my wholehearted support. I believe in the importance of community pharmacy and will listen and engage as I've already demonstrated.
From July 2022, Manage Your Services (MYS) portal will be the only route available for pharmacy contactors to submit all new prescription returns/referred
back items and disallowed items, reminded the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC).
Contractors will be able to view and submit the required information for all these items only through the MYS portal.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will send out a notification email from July (for the dispensing month of June) to the pharmacy NHSmail account if any
new referred back or disallowed items have been generated for the contractor to complete on their MYS account.
"Contractors can view any referred back items for completion by checking the 'Unpaid items' tab on MYS landing page," PSNC.
"It is important to note that prescription returns/referred back items via MYS are only held in the system for a period of 18 months from the date they are first
sent to the pharmacy for action; if contractors have not completed and returned any outstanding referred backs before this deadline has passed, the referred back
items will be deleted from system."
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England director, Ravi Sharma, has resigned after four years on the job.
He will be leaving the RPS in October to join Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, part of the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust group, as head of
pharmacy.
RPS will be commencing the recruitment of a new director for England shortly and in the interim Ravi will be working with Paul Bennett, the RPS CEO, to help in
delivery of key objectives and in the appointment of his successor.
Paul commented: "Ravi has made a significant contribution to the organisation during his time with us. His drive and enthusiasm for advancing the recognition of
the role of the Society itself and of pharmacists and professional practice is probably best reflected by his desire to ensure a real focus on personalised medicines
and his work on equality and diversity, workforce wellbeing, and most recently the development of a new vision for pharmacy in England.
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.
Polio has been detected in sewage samples in London, the first sign since the 1980s that the virus could be spreading in the UK, but no cases have been found,
authorities said.
The risk of infection from the disease, which causes paralysis in children in under one per cent of cases, was also low because of high vaccination rates, the UK
Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
The agency nevertheless encouraged parents to make sure their children were vaccinated after the discovery of the virus during routine wastewater surveillance -
particularly those who may have missed shots during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nationwide vaccination levels are above the 90 per cent needed to prevent outbreaks, but London's coverage rates among the under-twos has dipped below that in recent
years.
NHS England will begin contacting parents of children under five who are not immunised.
Polio, spread mainly through contamination by faecal matter, used to kill and paralyse thousands of children annually worldwide. There is no cure, but vaccination
brought the world close to ending the wild, or naturally occurring, form of the disease.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has backed a new framework from NHS England to reduce inappropriate prescribing of addiction-causing medicines.
It believes that the new framework is a positive step towards improving patient care by supporting medicine reviews and shared decision making to help people reduce
their use of medicines that are no longer providing much clinical benefit.
The society has also welcomed investment in innovative approaches to supporting patients and urged all pharmacists to refer people to such schemes.
Director for England at RPS, James Davies said: "Pharmacists are well-placed to help reduce inappropriate prescribing of high strength painkillers such as opioids
and other addictive medicines.
"Pharmacy teams can also often spot repeat purchases of over the counter medicines by patients so are well placed to intervene and give advice on the management of
chronic pain. Whilst opioids can play an important part in helping people with chronic pain there has long been a need for alternative approaches that are safer and
more effective for patients.
Community pharmacies in Cornwall have delivered more than 8000 face-to-face consultations over last 12 months.
Walk In Consultation Service (WICS) began 12 months ago when pharmacies in Cornwall started offering face-to-face consultations for a wide range of minor ailments,
and NHS treatment as required - the first service of its kind in England.
Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Scilly Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) Chief Officer Nick Kaye joined Operations Manager Drew Creek in Parliament recently by invite
of Steve Double MP, St Austell and Newquay to meet with Minister for Health Neil O'Brien MP to present the service to them and Senior Civil Servants from DHSC and
NHSE with a view to rolling this service out nationally.
The data from these consultations show that over 6000 GP appointments were averted as a result of the service being available. After each consultation a record was
sent to the patient's GP for information.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday (January 19) that restrictions re-imposed in England last month would be lifted by from next Thursday (January 27).
In the latest development, the government has decided to end the guidance on working from home, asking employers to make adequate arrangements to return safely to work.
From the start of next Thursday, mandatory certification based on vaccines and tests will end, however, organisations can still choose to use the NHS Covid Pass voluntarily.
Besides, the legal mandate to wear face masks will go away from next week.
Making a statement to the House of Commons on Covid-19, he said that infection levels are falling in England mainly because of the country's "extraordinary booster campaign".
He noted more than 36 million Covid-19 booster jabs had been delivered, with over 90 percent of over-60s now given a third dose.
"Our scientists believe it is likely that the Omicron wave has now peaked nationally," Johnson added, while cautioning "the pandemic is not over".
"I encourage everyone across the country to continue with all the cautious behaviours that we know help to keep each everybody safe."
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."
Deaths caused by hepatitis C has declined by 35 per cent in England between 2015 and 2020, latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed.
It showed that estimated prevalence of chronic hepatitis C in England has continued to fall to around 81,000 in 2020 from 129,000 in 2015, showing a considerable progress has been made towards eliminating the virus as a public health problem by 2030 in England.
Commenting on the data release, health and social care secretary Sajid Javid, said: "It is fantastic to see the significant progress that has been made in eliminating hepatitis C in England. Deaths and prevalence of the virus have fallen consistently thanks to improvements in diagnosis, access to treatments and the hard work of the NHS.
"This is another example of the UK being at the forefront of tackling serious diseases. We are on track to eliminate this virus by 2030 and I urge anyone who may be at risk to get tested as soon as possible."
With scarlet fever currently circulating in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKSHA) has urged parents to remain vigilant for potential symptoms in
children.
Also known as scarlatina, it is an infectious disease triggered by group A strep bacteria that can lead to symptoms such as fever, a sandpapery rash, sore throat
and swollen tonsils.
The latest data published by the UKHSA showed that a total of 19,528 cases of scarlet fever were reported in the 2023/24 season, of which 12,176 cases occurring
between 1 January and 24 March 2024.
While the number of cases recorded this year is lower than those recorded during the same period in 2023, which totaled 15,933 cases, it exceeds the average for
the previous five years.
"Scarlet fever is a common childhood illness, although it can affect anyone of any age," said Dr Theresa Lamagni at UKHSA.
Parents are advised to contact their GP practice or NHS111 when their GP is unavailable, if they suspect they or their child are experiencing symptoms of scarlet
fever.
England won't have any new Covid-19 restrictions before the end of 2021, health secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday (December 27) whilst the government awaits more evidence on whether the NHS can cope with high infection rates in the new year.
"There will be no further measures before the new year," Javid told reporters, adding: "When we get into the new year, of course we will see then whether we do need to take any further measures."
He said that the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus now accounted for around 90 per cent of cases across England and urged people to celebrate New Year
cautiously.
The government's attention is focused on the number of patients being hospitalised with Omicron after early data last week suggested the variant carried a lower
risk of admission.
The latest data showed the number of patients in hospital in England with Covid-19 was its highest since March, at 8,474, but a long way off peaks above 34,000 in January.
A combination of factors, including Britain's vaccination programme, the lag between infections and hospitalisations and the potentially less harmful effects of the Omicron variant have all been put forward by health experts as possible explanations for lower numbers.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has expressed concerns over Boots UK's decision to reduce supplemental opening hours at some pharmacies.
The association stated: "Some pharmacists and other staff at Boots are being notified this week of changes to opening hours at their place of work, with local briefings taking place. The PDA are supporting their members to deal with any potential impact on their employment."
It said that reducing pharmacy opening hours would affect patients' access to a trusted healthcare professional, especially if it is being done by the largest community pharmacy multiple.
It even called upon the NHS to adequately fund community pharmacies to ensure they remain open when patients and local communities need their services.
Meanwhile, Boots management has informed PDA that most of its employees are not pharmacists, and "less pharmacists are expected to be directly impacted by these changes than other colleagues," PDA said.
Bristol-based Titan PMR, a technology firm specialising in PMR systems for community pharmacies, is set to roll out an innovative platform named 'Titanverse,'
that it claims will redefine pharmacy management, offering comprehensive solutions extending beyond prescription management.
This new platform takes a versatile approach, efficiently managing all facets of pharmacy operations, from high-level management down to daily tasks, according to
top company officials.
"Our aim is to reshape pharmacies into genuine health hubs, providing advanced services and harnessing state-of-the-art technologies," said Tariq Muhammad, CEO of
Titan PMR. "Titanverse, our latest offering, is positioned to ignite this transformation, revolutionising clinical services in the same way its predecessor
revolutionised dispensing. With Titanverse, we have the vehicle to drive this vision forward, placing pharmacies at the forefront of primary care in the future."
Titanverse adopts a Teams approach, catering to pharmacies with multiple locations or specific focuses. It furnishes real-time analytics and employs a color-coded
rating system for swift performance evaluation.
Moreover, the platform eases operations by enabling task delegation, encompassing clinical checks and dispensing, all while backing private services with adaptable
templates and workflows.
The Company Chemists' Association (CCA)'s research has found that between 2015 and 2022 more than 40 per cent of permanent community pharmacy closures took
place in the 20 per cent most deprived parts of England.
The association has analysed the NHS data and found that between 2015 and 2022, 808 pharmacies closed permanently in England. In that period, only 138 new pharmacies
opened - a net loss of 670 community pharmacies.
It also examined where permanent closures had taken place. "41% of net permanent closures had taken place in the top 20% most deprived areas in England. Meanwhile,
only 9% of net permanent closures took place in the top 20% least deprived areas."
Although the latest figures for 2021/22 suggest that the overall rate of closures may be slowing down, the proportion of pharmacies permanently shutting in more
deprived areas has only increased.
An even larger share of pharmacies that permanently shut in 2021/22 occurred in the most deprived areas compared with the previous fiscal year: 44% of net closures
took place within the bottom two IMD deciles.
"Discussions must involve the government on behalf of NHS Scotland, CPS on behalf of the owners, and the PDA as the pharmacists' representative," it said.
The association believes that there is a need for discussion and decision-making that listens to and balances the rights and responsibilities of both employers
and workers, to generate benefits for individuals, organisations, and society.
It added: "Even though Scotland provides the most generous community pharmacy settlement in the UK, recent reports suggest it is not enough for pharmacy owners
with CPS's rejection of the latest funding proposal in May. Though the Scottish government found an extra £20M to ease pressures related to medicines price
increases, an overall agreement has still not been reached."
"The UK-wide chains may be doing less well in the parts of their networks covered by the Westminster government's contract, but the taxpayers and government of
Scotland need to be given reassurance that they are in no way subsidising funding shortfalls in England's pharmacy contract."
Recently, when LloydsPharmacy's Scotland branches recently came on the market, they appear to have been sold exclusively to existing contractors, including the
UK-wide multiple, Rowlands Pharmacy, who have acquired 30 of them. Other small and medium-sized Scottish pharmacy chains have apparently been able to double in
size overnight by acquiring branches.
