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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Director for Scotland Clare Morrison participated in the panel discussion alongside representatives from other health professional organisations on tackling the workforce crisis at the SNP conference in Aberdeen on 8 October. At the conference, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care committed to achieving protected learning time for health professionals. Morrison welcomed the Cabinet Secretary's statement as fantastic news for pharmacists across Scotland. "RPS Scotland will follow up the discussion by writing to the Cabinet Secretary to request a meeting to discuss achieving protected learning time, the forthcoming results of our workforce wellbeing survey, and positive examples of how pharmacy teams have improved the well-being of their teams," said the society.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has raised the issue faced by the pharmacy students on returning to in-person assessments while urging the universities to take an empathetic approach in transition of online to in-person exams. It was highlighted by the association that many student members were apprehensive about the return to in-person assessments. This is due to their continuing worry of Covid-19 transmissions and anxiety caused by changing exam formats and procedures. However, with the ease of Covid restrictions, now pharmacy schools are able to decide how exams are conducted but the PDA believes that they should communicate the process to students in advance. "A return to normal university life is considered to be beneficial to student health and well-being. In-person exams are an important part of preparing for students' future trainee assessment examinations, GPhC accreditation for pharmacy schools, and ensuring the integrity of exam results. As future healthcare professionals, face-to-face interaction is also an integral part of the role," said the PDA.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) highlighted the role played by community pharmacies during pandemic to provide urgent care and vital support to people with long-term medical conditions at its opening remark in the Covid-19 public inquiry held on Tuesday (28 February). NPA is the core participant in the Covid-19 public inquiry. lawyer Brian Stanton made an opening statement on the NPA's behalf which focused on three areas- health inequalities and the needs of vulnerable patients; the impact of medicine shortages and medicine price increases and the challenge that community pharmacy faced in responding to the pandemic and maintaining patient services following long-term under investment. Stanton said: "The UK's community pharmacies were on the frontline of efforts to limit the impact of coronavirus and to keep people well, and as well as handling a massive increase in demand for healthcare advice and medicines, they also continued to provide urgent care and vital support to people with long-term medical conditions. "However, there are now very many at risk of closure during to underfunding and when the Inquiry comes to consider its recommendations the NPA would encourage you [the presiding judge] to think about how resilience can be built into future plans." The statement included a compelling account of the commitment typical of so many pharmacies during the pandemic - from husband and wife Pete and Sukhi Johal, both NPA members and pharmacists, who co-own Calow Pharmacy in Chesterfield.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) on Wednesday confirmed that several MPs have come forward to support their campaign for fair funding for pharmacy students, as well as announced their plan to take the campaign to Wales. The campaign that began last year is focussed on the issue of pharmacy students being left out of the scope of the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF), which provides supplementary funding for healthcare students in England. MPharm students and PDA Student Reps have been sending letters to their MPs requesting them to escalate the issue to the health minister, and they have been able to gather considerable support. "There appears to be some cross-party support for the campaign, with welcome responses coming from Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs," the PDA said.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA)'s Health Education Foundation (HEF) has funded a major study that aimed to test the SPUR tool and evaluate how effective it was at measuring medicines adherence. The study has been published in the British Medical Journal Open. Dr Joshua Wells, a fourth year PhD candidate at Kingston University, who was awarded the NPA bursary, was the lead researcher for the SPUR UK study, under the guidance of Professor Reem Kayyali. Created by Observia, a health research group, SPUR is a self-assessment questionnaire which helps to detect a patient's risk of medicine non-adherence and aims to accurately articulate the reasons for health behaviour. As well as funding from HEF, the study was made possible via a partnership with Kingston University and Kingston Hospital. HEF chair of Trustees, Dr Ian Cubbin, said: "We are delighted that NPA's Health Education Foundation has played a part in such an important study. This research could lead ultimately to a far more personalised, tailored approach to medicines optimisation - recognising that people's medicines behaviour can be highly individual to them."

Enterosgel is a versatile safe drug-free alternative to current anti-diarrhoeal medicines found on pharmacy shelves. Enterosgel is different from other anti-diarrhoeals within this category, as it is suitable for children aged one year and over, so can be taken by the whole family. This intestinal adsorbent can be used for both acute diarrhoea due to gastrointestinal infections and for chronic irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D). Why should community pharmacists stock this brand? Unlike anti-diarrhoeals which work by slowing gut motility, Enterosgel is an intestinal adsorbent which physically binds harmful substances from the gut, that can cause diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal symptoms and expels them naturally with the stools. Because it is a medical device not a medicine, has no pharmacological action and is not absorbed by the body, it is a safe option for children and adults and can help reduce the likelihood of side effects which can be an issue with anti-diarrhoeal medicines. Enterosgel has a unique composition of an adsorbent mineral gel based in water, it contains no additional preservatives or additives so is easy to recommend from vegetarians to people with allergies or intolerances. The gel is mixed with water and taken orally in between meals; it is tasteless so well tolerated even by children.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid and Madelaine McTernan, head of the HRT supply taskforce, continue to take urgent action to resolve the shortage of HRT medicines by meeting the drug manufacturers and representatives from community pharmacies on Thursday (May 5). In the meeting, manufacturers outlined the steps they're taking to boost supply, and pharmacists shared their experiences on the frontline, as well as sharing their thoughts on wider solutions including improved communications. Aspen Pharmacare, Besins-Healthcare, Gedeon Richter, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Orion, Pfizer, Theramex, Viatris, and representatives from community pharmacies were part of the meeting. As the government confirmed its intention to work with industry to do what is necessary to fix the HRT supply issue, Javis said he wanted to understand the issues facing suppliers and what can be done to address them. "We will leave no stone unturned in our national mission to boost supply of HRT. Along with appointing Madelaine McTernan as head of the HRT supply taskforce to implement lessons learned from the pandemic, and ensuring prescriptions are issued in shorter cycles for now, we are working collectively with the sector to urgently resolve this issue," he commented. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) said the meeting discussed 'why we got into this position' and the way forward.

The Health and Social Care Select Committee (HSCC) on Tuesday held the first session in their pharmacy inquiry, with a panel of experts discussing the key issues facing community pharmacies in the country. Representatives from community pharmacy associations highlighted some of their biggest challenges and their vision for the future, as well as actions that government and NHS England can take to address those challenges for a better future for the sector. Opening the session, the Committee's vice-chair, Rachel Maskell MP, asked the representatives if they felt the government was ambitious enough in what it believes community pharmacy can do to address NHS pressures, or are pharmacists being held back by issues around workforce funding, contracting, and technological changes. Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive, Company Chemists' Association (CCA), expressed that the government is not ambitious enough, saying "there's always opportunity to be more ambitious".

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) on three HRT medicines to limit dispensing supply to three months. To ensure women across the UK will be able to more reliably access HRT products SSPs has been issued on the supply of Oestrogel, Ovestin cream and Premique Low Dose. DHSC stated, "Women who have a prescription for more than three months but are only able to access three months' supply will not have to pay an additional prescription charge." "This means women will not incur any additional costs. Imposing a three month limit will mean more women are able to access the medication they want. Any woman who is worried about access to HRT or is unable to access HRT should speak to her GP." Recently, Vaccine Taskforce Director General Madelaine McTernan has been appointed to spearhead a new HRT Supply Taskforce, applying lessons learned from the successful procurement seen during the Covid vaccination programme to identify ways to support the HRT supply chain ensuring it can meet both short and long term demand. The move will save time for patients as well as pharmacists and prescribers who are working tirelessly to tackle the covid backlog.

To help pharmacy owner to better understand the negotiating process, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has published commentary and infographics. "Our work to negotiate fair funding, as well as changes to NHS pharmacy services, with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England is a crucial part of our role," said CPE. "Understandably the sector is eagerly awaiting an update on the progress of the current negotiations on the Government's pledge to invest £645m in community pharmacies and, as part of our ongoing efforts to improve transparency of our work, we have released materials to explain the negotiating process." Negotiating Team Member Stephen Thomas - who joined the team this year - has written a blog about his experiences. He has described both the complexity of the process and volume of work undertaken, and recognises the significance of his role on behalf of pharmacy owners across the country. Whilst speed is of the essence, even higher on the Negotiating Team's list of priorities is working through a large number of important questions - particularly around the funding and logistics that need to be put in place.

Community pharmacies are well placed to play a role in preventing deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) said Director of NHS Services. The recent analysis by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) revealed that nearly 100,000 more people with cardiovascular disease than expected have died since the start of the pandemic in England. Latest figures show that the number of people waiting for time-sensitive cardiac care was at a record high of nearly 390,000 at the end of April in England. Average ambulance response times for heart attacks and strokes have consistently been above 30 minutes since the beginning of 2022, and in December 2022 they even breached 90 minutes. The target is 18 minutes, though the Government has set a new average target of 30 minutes over 2023/24. Director of NHS Services, Alastair Buxton, said: "It is concerning to hear that there have been tens of thousands of preventable deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We share BHF's desire to see more action on preventing the causes of CVD and, subject to appropriate funding being in place, community pharmacy teams are well placed to play a role in this.

The trade bodies and four largest pharmacy chains in England, have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Health, Steve Barclay, warning that the sector needs urgent investment for sustainability. The letter from AIMp, CCA, NPA, PSNC, Boots UK, Lloyds Pharmacy, Well, and Phoenix UK, warned that the 30 per cent real terms funding cuts that pharmacies have faced over the past seven years have left many businesses in a cashflow crisis. The letter said that the government is facing a choice over the future of the country's 11,000+ community pharmacies, with permanent closures likely and medicines supply at risk if no urgent action is taken. "If the funding situation is not addressed, the sector is likely to move rapidly towards many permanent closures of pharmacies." The organisations say that once these closures start, they will be hard to stop, as the sector is now so fragile other pharmacies would struggle to pick up the slack.