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In response to new research that revealed inequality in menopause support with 51 per cent of women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, Holland & Barrett, the UK's leading health and wellness retailer, has decided to continue its menopause campaign work to make "every menopause matter". A quarter of women (26 per cent) from minority ethnic communities say they find it difficult to access menopause support relevant to their specific backgrounds. Alongside support from Olympian and menopause campaigner, Michelle Griffith Robinson and expert, Meera Bhogal, the retailer is launching several new initiatives to make its information and support on menopause more inclusive by offering more diverse and personalised advice and content, tailored to different needs. Almost a third (31 per cent) believe being able to speak to a female healthcare professional of the same ethnicity as them would have made a difference to their menopause experience. Fifteen per cent go as far as saying that communicating in their native language would have made a positive difference. Based on these findings, Holland and Barrett is the first retailer to launch a free, multi-language menopause online consultation service. The service will see trained H&B menopause advisors offering guidance and symptom support in multiple languages, starting with Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and Punjabi.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has reiterated its call for all pharmacists working at Boots to join the PDA Union to support the collective voice of the profession within the company. It said this would enable PDA to send direct communications to pharmacists working at Boots and keep them up to date with key matters impacting their work life. Currently, the association uses the company communication channels to cascade key information to the non-member pharmacists, however, it fears such measures can be disrupted by management. Besides, having more member pharmacists at Boots would strengthen their "negotiating power", PDA said.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the Health Secretary Sajid Javid's plan to appoint Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) tsar to tackle the medicine shortages. On Sunday (April 24) Sajid Javid told the Mail that he planned to tackle the problem (shortage of HRT medicine) by appointing a new HRT tsar with the role modelled on that of Kate Bingham, who successfully led the government's Covid vaccine taskforce. "The difficulties in accessing HRT medicine have unfairly impacted women's mental health," said RPS President, Professor Claire Anderson. "I look forward to working with this new champion for HRT and the Government on how we can better support women's health, building on the positive move to reduce prescription charges for HRT for women." Anderson also stressed that "the Government should now go further and end unfair prescription charges for patients in England altogether."

The Swiss competition commission (COMCO) has opened an investigation of Novartis over possible unlawful use of a patent to reduce competitive pressure, the Swiss drugmaker confirmed on Thursday, September 15. COMCO conducted an early morning raid on the company on Sept. 13, it said in a statement that did not name Novartis, which subsequently said in its own statement that it was the group under investigation. "The company allegedly attempted to protect its drug for the treatment of skin diseases against competing products by using one of its patents to initiate litigation proceedings," COMCO said in a statement. Novartis said COMCO had started an investigation in collaboration with the European Commission into the assertion of a patent in the broader field of dermatology treatments. "In connection with this investigation, COMCO representatives visited the company headquarters in Basel," it said.

Nottinghamshire Police have released a CCTV image of a man over the theft of £1,400 worth of cosmetic products from a Boots store on Sunday (18 June). Police have made appeal they would like to speak to the man in the CCTV image to in connection with the theft from a Boots store in St Peter's Retail Park, Mansfield. On Sunday (18 June) boxes of eye serum were stolen from the store at around 10.35am. Officers would like to trace the man pictured as they continue with their inquiries into the theft. Police Constable Beth Richards, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Shoplifting is not a victimless crime. Offences of this sort can have a hugely detrimental impact on retailers and wider communities. "We have carried out initial inquiries but are now asking the public to assist us in identifying who this person might be - as he could help aid our investigation.

Whether it's the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and those suffering with long Covid, or the financial pressures of rising living costs, these hard times can affect absolutely anyone's mental health. Mental health problems have worsened across all age-groups in the last few years, from lack of social interaction, unexpected bereavements or the significant impact of a physical injury or long-term illness taking its toll on mental wellbeing - these challenging experiences and situations that we face throughout life leave a big strain on the population. Ultimately, there is an urgent need to reduce rising levels of mental ill-health in our society. As a pharmacist with 25 years' experience in healthcare, I feel I have an obligation to my patients to support them with their healthcare needs, and mental health should be treated just the same as physical health. Despite efforts to improve NHS mental health services, patients may still not be receiving the appropriate immediate care as they are often provided with online counselling or an App for long-term support (online support introduced since the pandemic). Community pharmacists are in a unique position to be advocates for patients with mental illness as they are the healthcare professionals' patients see most often. This is a good opportunity for pharmacists to speak to patients face-to-face and give them advice in a more practical way rather than potentially waiting weeks for an GP appointment.

A bout 15 to 30 per cent of the UK population suffers from hay fever and there has been a definite increase in the number of moderate to severe hay fever sufferers, with sufferers experiencing more frequent and longer seasons. And now that the government has announced its plans for the easing of lockdown, community pharmacists can expect to see many more of their patients presenting with more severe symptoms than usual, as there will be more opportunities to spend time outside and be exposed to higher levels of pollen. Symptoms Common symptoms include sneezing, a runny stuffed up nose, itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion and a general stuffed up feeling in the nose and throat. Some experience itching around the face and mouth, with an itchy palette, and burning sensation in the throat. Headaches and wheezing can also occur, as well as an overall achy feeling, or build-up of pressure in the facial area. The sinus area can become painful and constant nose blowing can leave sufferers with skin irritation. This can lead to tiredness and affect sleep, which in turn reduces energy.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has published a new professional guidance for prescribing practice on Monday (June 6) which it says will be "for the benefit of all independent prescribers across the UK". Based on collaboration with multi-professional stakeholders, the document is a guidance tool for prescribers wanting to expand their prescribing scope of practice. Commissioned by the Welsh government, the document was developed through an expert group with representatives from many healthcare professions, including from Higher Education institutions, professional bodies, regulatory bodies, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS Education for Scotland, Health Education and Improvement Wales, and representatives from hospital, community and GP practice. RPS president Claire Anderson said: "It's fantastic to see the growth in prescribing, both across the profession and more widely, to improve patient care.

The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) on Monday alerted the Health and Social Care Committee that medicines shortages have increased and are "around double what they were a year ago." BGMA chief executive Mark Samuels told the committee that they have been highlighting the medicine shortage risk to ministers since July 2021 and the association is "very concerned" about the current situation. "We've been monitoring it for several years now, and as you saw in the written evidence, shortages have increased. They're around double what they were a year ago. We have them at 101 shortages in February this year," said Samuels. Dr Rick Greville, director of distribution and supply at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), highlighted that the problem of drug shortages in the UK is a "long-standing issue" and the scarcity of certain medications "continues to be challenging".

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB)'s decision to withdraw gluten free prescriptions for people with coeliac disease across Leeds and Calderdale has disappointed Coeliac UK. In a statement released on Thursday, the charity, which provides support and advice to those living with the disease, has raised "grave concerns" about the decision, warning that it will have a detrimental impact on the coeliac community. The policy is currently implemented across the ICB's other places including Bradford district and Craven, Kirklees and Wakefield district, preventing coeliac patients from accessing gluten free bread and flour mix on prescription. NHS West Yorkshire ICB wants to align its gluten free prescribing guidelines across its five places. But the charity is worried that the additional cost of gluten free staple products will poses a real challenge to maintaining the gluten-free diet, which is the only treatment for the condition.

LloydsPharmacy Clinical Homecare, a leading provider of home healthcare services in the UK, on Monday announced the appointment of Paul Adams as the company's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Before assuming his role at LPCH at the end of last year, Adams was leading transformation efforts at DD Group, formerly known as Dental Directory. With a career spanning over two decades, Adams has held influential positions at Diageo, Smith+Nephew, and served as a CEO for various Private Equity companies. He has also co-authored "The Little Black Book of Change." Adams will lead the LPCH's mission to pioneer the delivery of specialist clinical treatment therapies to patients, thereby enhancing patient outcomes within homecare and community settings while improving accessibility.

Professional translators recreate texts, not simply matching word-for-word, but understanding the underlying meaning, purpose, and interpretation of the original language, and reproduce it using appropriate terminology and structure to ensure there is no potential for misunderstanding. An experienced technical translator addresses conventions to ensure the meaning of the information is preserved, using medical expertise and quality review processes to adapt documentation to meet the needs of patients, medical practitioners, and peers. Attention to detail is fundamental to medical translations and a non-technical translation is an unacceptably high risk for any organisation involved in publishing or circulating medical information of any kind. WHAT IS MEDICAL TRANSLATION? Medical translation is a technical process where capable translators reproduce content or documentation used anywhere in the medical industry, including psychiatry, systematic reviews, tuition and training, patient communications for pharmaceutical translation services. Important clinical trial translations can include labelling, prescriptions, medical devices and patient records, with millions of medicines and treatments used globally and written in multiple languages. Qualified medical translators must have exceptional linguistic skills but also a thorough understanding of medical sciences in all the native languages concerned. However, the complexity of translating one label or one document into several languages can mean that organisations may assume a simple translation is sufficient - when it is anything but!

AstraZeneca on Wednesday (April 5) said a combination of its cancer drugs Imfinzi and Lynparza met the main goal in a late-stage trial in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. The drugmaker said treatment with a combination of those drugs, along with chemotherapy and bevacizumab - the existing standard of care - improved progression-free survival in newly diagnosed patients with advanced ovarian cancer without certain mutations. Lynparza is jointly developed with U.S.-based Merck & Co as a treatment for breast cancer in early stage with certain mutations. Imfinzi alone, along with chemotherapy and bevacizumab, did not reach statistical significance in its interim analysis, the drugmaker added. Philipp Harter, director, Department of Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology, Evangelische Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Germany and principal investigator for the trial, said: "DUO-O showcases the power of academia and industry collaboration in advancing new treatment combinations for patients with ovarian cancer. I'm grateful for the academic cooperative study groups and patients around the world that made this trial possible and look forward to sharing the results with the clinical community." Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: "While there has been significant progress for patients with advanced ovarian cancer, an unmet need still remains. These data from the DUO-O trial provide encouraging evidence for this this Lynparza and Imfinzi combination in patients without tumour BRCA mutations and reinforce our continued commitment to finding new treatment approaches for these patients. It will be important to understand the key secondary endpoints as well as data for relevant subgroups."

The government will on Thursday launch a drive to boost childhood vaccination rates, health authorities said, seeking an "urgent reversal" to a fall in uptake as the country faces a worsening measles outbreak. Routine childhood immunisations in Britain for diseases including measles, mumps and rubella, diphtheria and polio, have been falling gradually over the past decade, but dipped more sharply after the Covid-19 pandemic, mirroring a global decline. Last year UNICEF said people worldwide had lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines during the pandemic, with misinformation, dwindling trust in governments and political polarisation contributing to rising hesitancy. Britons will begin seeing adverts from next week across various media, including a television campaign featuring children reminding parents of the risk of missing out on vaccinations, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said. "We need an urgent reversal of the decline in the uptake of childhood vaccinations to protect our communities," UKHSA chief executive Jenny Harries said in a statement.

The National Health Service will begin its autumn Covid vaccine program next week, a month earlier than planned in response to the spread of a new variant dubbed Pirola. Covid vaccines will be administered to care home residents and housebound individuals from Monday onwards, while over-65s and other vulnerable groups will receive their appointments the week after. On Aug. 30, NHS England shifted the autumn vaccination drive to start on September 11 in response to the new Covid-19 variant, BA.2.86, detected on August 18. The primary groups can book through a national system upon receiving an invitation from the NHS. Some people may get an earlier call from their GP, and a few have already scheduled Covid vaccinations alongside their flu jabs. The NHS will begin inviting other eligible groups from Sept. 18. However, it is important to note that not everyone will receive a call at the same time. These groups will include individuals aged 65 and over, those aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk category, frontline health and social care workers, and individuals aged 12 to 64 who are carers or household contacts of those with immunosuppression.

In a remarkable turn of events, the NHS App has emerged as a financial saviour for the National Health Service, slashing costs by over £1 million in the last year alone. The revelation comes as a testament to the app's growing significance in streamlining patient communication and service delivery. Throughout the fiscal year 2023/24, a staggering 22.5 million messages traversed the NHS App, a feat previously reliant on traditional methods like text messages or letters. This monumental shift not only signifies a boon for efficiency but also heralds substantial savings, with each text message costing an average of 5p. Drastically reducing these expenses has amounted to a commendable £1.1 million in savings, marking a pivotal milestone in NHS expenditure management.

The UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) Chief Executive, Professor Dame Jenny Harries has expressed concern that measles outbreak could spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to increase Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination uptake in areas at greatest risk. The virus can spread very easily among those who are unvaccinated, especially in nurseries and schools, she said on Friday (19 January) during a visit to irmingham to review the ongoing work to contain the spread of the disease. A rapid rise in cases has been seen in the West Midlands since 1 October 2023, with 216 confirmed cases and 103 probable cases recorded till 18 January. The majority of the cases (around 80 per cent) were reported from Birmingham, with about 10 per cent in Coventry, mostly affecting children aged under 10 years. Dame Jenny is calling on all local areas to increase MMR vaccine uptake rates in communities across the country.

A new Attention-Deficit-Hyperactive disorder (ADHD) taskforce has been launched by National Health Services England (NHSE) to counter the challenges faced by many suffering from the neurodevelopmental condition. The ADHD taskforce aligns with the NHS Long Term Plan's vision to revolutionise mental health services, with a specific emphasis on bolstering community-based care and reducing reliance on inpatient services. The NHS has partnered with the government to tackle the escalating demands including increasing funding, improving system efficiency, altering the service provision model, and clinical prioritisation by bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand. Over the past two decades, there has been a significant expansion in the acknowledgement and successful medical interventions for ADHD, leading to a steady rise in clinical requests throughout the UK.