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In partnership with the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT) has recently established an innovative cardiometabolic clinic. The clinic focuses on reducing cardiovascular risk in people with diabetes who have recently been discharged from LTHT following a heart attack. It is delivered jointly by the cardiology department at Leeds General Infirmary and the diabetes services at the Trust. This is a patient-centred approach to reducing that risk, with pharmacist-delivered clinics scheduled for six to eight weeks after the heart attack. Stephen Wheatcroft, Professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine and Consultant Cardiologist at LTHT, said: "This is an exciting and innovative development, one of the first in the country. Previously, Type 2 diabetic patients presenting with heart issues would have been treated by two separate specialty teams. This is the first time there has been a specific clinic combining the cardiac and diabetes team working together. "We aim to reduce the risk for patients, with earlier multidisciplinary hospital care, to help discharged patients achieve better diabetes control, through improved medication support and optimisation, reducing the need for further treatment and future hospital stays. Overall, it will mean a better patient experience, with improved monitoring and information about treatment options, along with a reduction in waiting times for review in a specialist clinic."

In a bid to bolster the educational experience for undergraduate pharmacy students across London, Kingston University has embarked on a groundbreaking project in collaboration with University College London and King's College London. This initiative, fueled by a substantial £1.5 million investment from National Health Services England (NHSE), aims to elevate the quality and consistency of pharmacy placements throughout the capital for new pharmacy entrants. The project is designed to address the evolving standards set forth by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GphC), ensuring that newly-trained pharmacists are well-prepared to meet the demands of their profession. By standardizing and expanding pharmacy placements, the three universities seek to provide students with a comprehensive and diverse range of "experiential learning opportunities".

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.

The lessons from Covid crisis applied in the future through collaboration can create a better integration between GP practices, hospitals and community pharmacies, Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) has proposed. Stating that a more integrated healthcare system could enable pharmacists to provide effective and more efficient care to patients, the PDA proposed a model where at least two pharmacists would be working in each community pharmacy, empowered, and enabled with two-way referral pathways, having more clinical input and full access to patient records. "Such an environment could not only help to improve communications between health professionals and increase access to services for patients, but would support the NHS to operate more effectively."

Various state governments are looking at outsourcing MRI services in their district hospitals to private players which is enabling high-quality low cost scanning for patients visiting government hospitals, without any investment whatsoever from the government The growth of MRI as a diagnostic modality in India was limited initially by two factors.