Health leaders have said that delivering faster and more productive patient care would be difficult unless NHS capital budgets are nearly doubled to
at least £14.1 billion from the current spending of £7.7 billion.
The NHS Confederation has highlighted the impact that low levels of capital investment have had over the last decade in its report published today (29 November).
The report, 'Investing to save: The capital requirement for a more sustainable NHS in England', revealed that the UK has lagged behind other comparable countries
in terms of health capital investment for more than five decades, resulting in less productivity.
It revealed that the NHS now has the sixth lowest number of CT and MRI scanners per million people of the OECD countries.
Skelmersdale-based online pharmacy Chemist4U has secured a £12 million investment from Pitalia Capital, an equity investment company led by Anil Pitalia.
Chemist4U is part of JCCO Healthcare, which also houses the weight management platform myBMI. Anil Pitalia is a health enthusiast, who heads SpaMedica, a company
providing cataract surgery to the NHS.
This investment will propel the group's expansion, with John Davies, Managing Partner of Pitalia Capital, joining the board, the company said. Moreover, it will
facilitate the extension of services by myBMI in the realm of weight management.
"Our goal is for Chemist4U to emerge as one of the largest NHS dispensing facilities in the country, while also providing vital support to our partners through our
rapidly expanding outsourced dispensing services division," said said James O'Loan, Chief Executive Officer of both Chemist4U and myBMI, who joined Chemist4U as a
superintendent pharmacist in 2012 before becoming CEO in 2018.
Meanwhile, Anil Pitalia, Head of Pitalia Capital based in Bolton, cited the compelling growth potential as the driving force behind his investment in Chemist4U's
next-day medicine delivery service.
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Leading pharmaceutical wholesaler Lexon UK has completed a £60 million refinancing deal with HSBC UK to help meet its growth targets in 2022 and beyond.
The asset based lending facility will support Lexon's business strategy, including capital expenditure in areas such as new technology and business development.
Founded in 1995, the Redditch-based supplier has distribution centres in Leeds, Durham and Dublin, supporting thousands of independent pharmacies.
Nimesh Sodha, director at Lexon, said: "We are delighted to have completed this deal - it will help Lexon grow and continue to support independent pharmacies across the UK, as we have done for many years, in fresh and exciting ways.
The collapse of the three trading entities in the Converse Pharma Group (Testerworld Limited, Doncaster Pharmaceuticals Group Limited and Eclipse Generics
Limited) (the Group) in May 2022 undoubtedly caused ripples
throughout the pharmacy industry.
The Group, a major supplier of pharmaceuticals, had a combined turnover over £300m, employed 1,000 staff members and supplied over 4,000 pharmacies throughout the
country.
The Group is licensed and regulated by the MHRA. At the beginning of 2021, a breach of the MHRA licensing regulations caused a temporary (but prolonged) cessation
of trading.
The Group was able to secure the ongoing support of its secured creditors during this time, however, when the licenses were subsequently reinstated, they came with
restrictions.
Unfortunately for the Group, the period of the suspension and the subsequent restrictions over the licences caused a significant reduction in revenue, from which
the Group was unable to recover.
Ultimately, by May this year, the companies in the Group had exhausted their working capital and had no prospect of raising the funding they required to continue
to trade.
A polio vaccine booster campaign is being launched for almost a million children in London aged between 1 and 9 after confirmation that poliovirus is
spreading in the capital for the first time since the 1980s.
The UK Health Security Agency has identified 116 polioviruses from 19 sewage samples this year in London, after first sending an alert about finding the virus in
June. The levels of poliovirus found and genetic diversity indicated that transmission was taking place in a number of London boroughs, the agency said on Wednesday
(Aug 10).
Health secretary Steve Barclay said: "I recognise parents and guardians will be concerned about the detection of polio in London, however I want to reassure people
that nobody has been diagnosed with the virus and the risk to the wider population is low…
"Vaccines offer the best defence to children, and those around them, so I would encourage families to ensure they are up to date with their routine jabs, and to come
forward for the polio booster as soon as they are contacted by the NHS."
A group of pharmacists on Saturday (July 2) took part in this year's Pride in London parade, as the annual LGBTQ+ celebration returned to the capital after
three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those who participated in the march called on the government to ban conversion therapy for all LGBT+ people, reform the Gender Recognition Act, and provide equal
protection for LGBT+ communities against hate crime.
The event which drew a crowd of a million people marked the 50th anniversary since the first ever parade in London in 1972.
Amandeep Doll, head of professional belonging at RPS, said: "It was a privilege to join in the recognition of the diversity of the LGBTQI+ community and our
profession, especially on such a historic occasion. Our group of pharmacists and allies from all parts of the country loved the excitement and buzz of the day."
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".
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has revoked its initial enforcement order imposed on Pharmacy2U Limited (Pharmacy2U) concerning the acquisition of
Metabolic Healthcare Ltd (Lloyds Direct).
In the revocation order issued on February 12, the regulator said its decision was "based on the evidence it has received in its assessment of the Merger to date."
The CMA served an initial enforcement order under section 72(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002 on Pharmacy2U, P2U Holdings Limited, G Square Capital II L.P., G Square
Healthcare Private Equity LLP (collectively, the Acquirer Group) and Lloyds Direct on 28 November 2023.
It announced that it was considering "whether it is or may be the case that a relevant merger situation has been created and whether the creation of that situation
has resulted or may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any market or markets in the United Kingdom (UK)."
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Challenges in accessing the NHS waiting list are pushing more and more people toward private-funded alternatives for access, diagnosis and treatment,
thereby increasing the demand for private health cover.
According to a report published by health data provider LaingBuisson, the demand for private health cover, including medical and dental insurance and cash plans,
has surged to its highest levels since 2008.
The UK's overall health cover market reached £6.7 billion in 2022, an increase of £385 million from the previous year.
During the period from 2020 to 2022, the market experienced annual growth rate of 6.1 per cent, a significant increase compared to the average annual growth rate
of 1.7 per cent observed between 2008 and 2019, the research found.
A total of 4.2 million people were subscribed to medical cover schemes in 2022. When dependents covered by these policies were included, the number reached
7.3 million - the highest count since 2008.
LaingBuisson's analysis showed that medical cover volumes were steady through most of the 2010s, but began to increase alongside rises in the NHS waiting list
from 2018.