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As part of a new blueprint for primary care, the government today (May 9) announced an investment of £645 million over two years to expand community pharmacy services in England. In a statement, NHS England said: "For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections." Prime minister Rishi Sunak hopes that the measures will help end the "all-too stressful wait on the end of the phone for patients" by freeing up 15 million slots at doctors' surgeries over the next two years. "We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly and easily," he said Almost half a million women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP to access oral contraception and will instead be able to pop into their local pharmacy for it, according to the government announcement. Blood checks for people suffering from moderate risk of heart attack or stroke conducted in community pharmacies will more than double from 900,000 last year to 2.5 million next year. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the "ambitious package" would help transform how care is provided within the health service "with pharmacies playing a central role in managing the nation's health including providing lifesaving checks and medication for common conditions for the first time.

Sobha Sharma Kandel wants community pharmacy teams up and down the country to be super responsive to emerging needs of their patients - by always being pro-active rather than reactive. "We know that every patient benefits from our proactive approaches - listening, asking questions, providing information and making clinical interventions when appropriate. "At a time when general practice is overstretched, community pharmacy must be relied upon as the frontline of the NHS when it comes to providing diagnosis, treatment and continuous care in our communities to promote health and wellbeing of our patients." Sobha believes Covid-19 has helped shift public perception of community pharmacies from being a place where one goes to collect a prescription to a hub where one can access a range of healthcare advice and services. "We are way more than just a shop where you can collect your medicines," she said, giving examples of how her interventions have helped reduce medication errors, prevent harm and subsequently reduce cost of care. She once saved a baby from getting overdosed with omeprazole when they had issues with gastroesophageal reflux. On another occasion, she managed a lady's high blood pressure by finding equivalent medications to a combination dose prescribed by her doctor in another country.

Veoza, a non-hormonal treatment for menopause, has been made available on the high street for the first time in the UK. British pharmacy chain Superdrug on Thursday (1st February) announced the launch of the newly approved menopause medication, expanding its comprehensive portfolio of products and services to support menopausal women. Veoza is a prescription medication that is used to manage vasomotor symptoms, specifically hot flushes and night sweats, which affect up to 80 per cent of women during menopause, as estimated by experts. It is recommended for women who prefer not to or are unable to take hormone replacement. Perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal women, aged 45-65 who are not on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) or hormonal contraception, and are suffering from moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms, are eligible to take the medication, the retailer said in a release.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has been in dialogue with the senior management of NHS Property Services to bring down the rent for community pharmacies based in NHS health centres. Association said: "Community pharmacies based in NHS health centres are struggling to make ends meet due to expensive rental rates." It is calling for pharmacies to have the ability to renegotiate rental rates part way through a contract. Gareth Jones, Director of Corporate Affairs at the NPA, said landlords need to take into account that pharmacy spending power is shrinking and the previous formula used to set rental rates is no longer fit for purpose. "It no longer makes sense to calculate based on historical assumptions about how many prescriptions the co-located GP will generate for the pharmacy," he said.

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.