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Starting from January 2024, it will be compulsory for medicine suppliers in the NHS supply chain in England to submit an Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment each year. Suppliers who fail to submit the sustainability assessment will not be placed on medicines contracts, said NHS England. The NHS has taken this move as part of its ambition to reach carbon net zero by 2045. The Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment is a self-assessment and reporting tool for suppliers to share sustainability information with the NHS. Chris McAleer, medicines net zero project delivery manager at NHS England, announced this new rule at the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists' Procurement and Distribution Interest Group Autumn Symposium held in Birmingham on 2 November 2023.

Louth and Horncastle's MP Victoria Atkins has taken the new role of Health Secretary today (13 November) amid the PM's cabinet reshuffle. Steve Barclay, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was moved to become Environment Secretary after being assigned the role of Health Secretary. The following decision was made consequent to Steve Barclay being reassigned from the role. The news comes at a time when the NHS faces enduring challenges and industrial action, making this change particularly significant. MP Atkins is married to Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar, which also grows medicinal cannabis.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has decided to increase the renewal fees of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy premises by 7.5% from April 2024. The pharmacy technician's renewal fee will see an increase by £9 from £121 to £130, pharmacists fees from £257 to £276, and pharmacy premises from £365 to £392. The following decision came even despite the renewal fees being frozen for individual registrants since 2019 and for pharmacy premises since 2021. This move was facilitated through cost savings measures like using financial reserves and downsizing to a smaller office. However, the council confirmed that the fee hike is due to higher rates of inflation, increase in utility bills and supplier costs. Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive and Registrar of the GPhC, said: "We know that these are challenging times and that this increase will come as unwelcome news to those we regulate. But to be effective in our role of protecting the public we need to make sure the fees we charge cover the cost of regulation going forward."

Heart valves are essential for the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system. They serve to control and regulate the flow of blood, ensuring it moves smoothly through the heart's chambers. Valve replacement surgery cost in India and high level of statistics have made India a chief destination for heart treatment

Boots has shut down three more stores, as it moves forward with its plan to close 300 stores across the UK over the next 12 months. On Saturday (18 November), Boots closed its branches in Mudge Way, Plymouth; Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter; and Low Moor Road, Kirkby, Ashfield. The NHS issued a memo to shoppers and patients who use the Plymouth branch, which is located next to Plympton Health Centre, to inform them that "you will need to find and nominate another pharmacy to dispense your prescriptions going forward." Patients can set their nomination by contacting their new pharmacy and requesting "they do this for you." According to DevonLive, a note was attached to the Mount Pleasant pharmacy door that read: "Boots Mount Pleasant Store will close on Saturday, November 18 2023.

Heart valves are crucial for the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system. They play a vital role in controlling and regulating the flow of blood, ensuring it moves smoothly through the heart's chambers.

Heart valves are essential for the proper functioning of the cardiovascular system. They serve to control and regulate the flow of blood, ensuring it moves smoothly through the heart's chambers. In these situations, heart valve replacement surgery emerges as a viable option.

How to transfer quickbooks to a new computer Contact Here/+1-844-397-7462 Are you drowning in a data deluge, clinging to a clunky desktop raft in a sea of spreadsheets? Fear not, weary accountant! The QuickBooks Migration Tool is your inflatable unicorn, ready to whisk you away from the data storm to the pixel paradise of QuickBooks Online! Imagine this: Data: No longer a raging torrent, your information transforms into sparkling pixel streams, painting the digital canvas with vivid insights. Customers and vendors, once blurry figures in waterlogged ledgers, become colorful avatars in your online accounting oasis. Transactions, once cryptic scribbles on soggy paper, morph into playful dolphins, guiding you effortlessly through your financial waters. But before you hop on this pixel unicorn, remember: Preparation is your lifejacket: Scrub your data like a seasoned sailor clearing seaweed, banish inconsistencies like pirates from your financial charts, and categorize transactions like a mapmaker charting new pixel reefs. Treat your QuickBooks file as your trusty anchor, ensuring it's reliable and ready to weather any wave. Choose your vessel: Intuit, your benevolent data captain, offers a free rubber dinghy for basic voyages. But for adventurous spirits seeking epic quests like payroll expeditions or custom data bridges, third-party submarines await, each a powerful upgrade in your digital arsenal.

There are two main ways to transfer your QuickBooks data to a new computer each with its contact options: 1. Using the QuickBooks Migration Tool: On the old computer: Open QuickBooks. Go to File > Utilities > Move QuickBooks to another computer. Click I'm ready and create a password to protect your company files. Choose the company files you want to move and select a destination, like an external drive. Click Create migration file. Contact: You don't need to contact QuickBooks support if you can successfully transfer your data using the Migration Tool. 2. Manually copying the company files: Less recommended: Suitable for any version of QuickBooks but prone to errors and limitations. How to: Close QuickBooks on both computers. Locate your company files on the old computer. The default location is usually C:\Users\\Documents\Intuit\QuickBooks\. Copy the company files to an external drive or cloud storage. Contact: If you encounter issues with manual file copying or need help with another method, you can reach QuickBooks customer support at +1-844-397-7462. Additional options: Intuit Data Transfer Service: Paid service for migrating data to QuickBooks Online or another Desktop version. Contact QuickBooks support for details. Manual CSV Import (for QuickBooks Online): Export data from Desktop as CSV files and import them into QuickBooks Online. Time-consuming and requires data formatting.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) says the pharmacy regulator should maintain a two-year post qualification eligibility criteria, in addition to the qualitative measures being introduced which would be in the best interest of patient safety, before a pharmacist is allowed to commence an IP course. The association was responding to an announcement by the GPhC's move to scrap the two year requirement for Independent Prescribing (IP) course. "The PDA accepts that the qualitative approach could mean greater individual consideration of potential IP course candidates and the two-year measure could have sometimes been a blunt tool. However, the PDA is already seeing cases of patient harm and allegations around fitness to practice arising from IP," the association said. The association also said that it supports individual pharmacists with near misses, as well as actual incidents, giving the organisation possibly the most comprehensive understanding of risk. Frontline pharmacists also recognise these issues and in a survey of over 1,000 pharmacists undertaken by the PDA in late 2021, of those who had 2+ years' experience of practice and who were already independent prescribers, 90 per cent said the qualifying period should be two years or more.

All children aged five to 11 in England will be offered a Covid-19 vaccine, the government said on Wednesday (February 16) - following similar announcements in the rest of the UK. The move, coming nearly two months after British regulators approved Pfizer and BioNTech's shot for use among the age group, sees Britain following the lead of the United States, the European Union and other countries. It has only been vaccinating at-risk under-12s and those who live with immuno-suppressed people, using a lower-dose formulation of the jab that was found to be "safe and effective". However, health secretary Sajid Javid - who has responsibility for England only - said he had now accepted guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises UK health departments, to expand the rollout. "The NHS will prepare to extend this non-urgent offer to all children during April so parents can, if they want, take up the offer to increase protection against potential future waves of Covid-19 as we learn to live with this virus," he said in a statement.

Keith Ridge, who retired from the role of England's chief pharmaceutical officer this month, has written to the NHS regional directors regarding a package to empower community pharmacies to implement clinical services in their integrated care systems. Though details about this letter are not available, Malcolm Harrison, chief executive officer of the Company Chemists' Association, welcomed the move saying: "It is a positive step towards the greater integration of community pharmacy care into the NHS. "It is vital for the NHS that patients can benefit from the clinical care services set out in the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework." Harrison, however, highlighted that while pharmacies are being pushed to do more, the efforts to introduce new clinical services should be supported with "sustainable funding and material actions to increase workforce numbers in the sector." "We are concerned that without the funding and people in place, the desired volume of necessary services cannot be delivered, no matter how well coordinated."

The new deal struck by the NHS will enable provision of a life-saving treatment for babies and young children who suffer with a rare and fatal genetic disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD). The revolutionary gene therapy treatment, known by its brand name Libmeldy, is used to treat MLD, which causes severe damage to the child's nervous system and organs, leading to a life expectancy of just five to eight years. Having a reported list price of more than £2.8 million, it is the most expensive drug in the world, but can now be offered to young patients on the NHS in England after the health service negotiated a significant confidential discount. the drug works by removing the patient's stem cells and replacing the faulty gene that causes MLD before then re-injecting the treated cells into the patient. The most common form of MLD usually develops in babies younger than 30 months and can cause loss of sight, speech and hearing, as well as difficulty moving, brain impairment, seizures, and eventually death.

NICE has recommended use of tucatinib as an option to treat HER2-positive breast cancer that has spread in people who have already tried 2 or more anti-HER2 treatments. The move is set to benefit around 400 people with advanced breast cancer. Tucatinib works by blocking a specific area of the HER2 gene in cancer cells, which stops the cells from growing and spreading. The medicine is taken as two 150 mg tablets twice daily along with anti-cancer medicines trastuzumab and capecitabine. Helen Knight, programme director in the NICE Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, said: "Unfortunately there is no cure for breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. There is also a lack of additional anti‑HER2 treatments which can postpone the need for chemotherapy, especially for people whose cancer has spread to their brain because their treatment options are even more limited.

McKesson UK's CEO Toby Anderson has stepped down from the role with immediate effect after over three years with the company. Toby joined McKesson UK as CEO in September 2018 moving from health & beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group, where he spent 12 years in various roles. As CEO Asia and Eastern Europe, Toby was responsible for a rapidly growing business with more than 3,300 stores - including 1,500 pharmacies. Prior to that Toby spent 11 years in a number of senior roles with J. Sainsbury, the second largest grocery retailer in the UK, his last role being Head of Online. Dominik Meüser from AURELIUS Group said: "We are extremely grateful for the commitment Toby has demonstrated over the years to help us achieve the McKesson vision of becoming the UK's leading healthcare organisation. His leadership, during a period of great uncertainty, has given us the solid foundations we can now build on to deliver sustained success in the future.

To curb the supply issue of HRT medicine, the government has taken a further action by issuing SSPs for Oestrogel, Ovestin cream, Lenzetto transdermal spray and Sandrena gel sachets - with appropriate alternatives. The move aims to allow community pharmacists to supply specified alternatives to the prescribed HRT products without needing to seek authorisation from the clinician who has prescribed the medicine. The regulator said that the availability of Premique Low Dose has impoved 'thanks to SSPs issued on 29 April to restrict dispensing for Oestrogel, Ovestin and Premique Low Dose to three months' supply'. "Since these measures were implemented, further deliveries of all three products have been made, with Premique Low Dose returning to good availability this week. The manufacturers of Oestrogel and Ovestin, as well as suppliers of alternative HRT products, are taking action to increase UK supply." It added, "SSPs restricting prescriptions to a maximum of three months' supply will also be issued for substitute products, as a precautionary measure to ensure the supply of those substitutes is maintained."

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has recommended that surgeons working in hospitals with limited or no access to a radiopharmacy department could now use Magtrace and Sentimag as an option to locate sentinel lymph nodes in people with breast cancer. The recommendation in draft NICE medical technology guidance could see a change in NHS standard care for the first time in years. The technology could also mitigate the reliance on radioactive isotope tracers shipped in from outside Great Britain. The magnetic liquid tracer - Magtrace - is a non-radioactive dark brown liquid. It is both a magnetic marker and a visual dye. The Magtrace is injected into the tissue around a tumour. The particles are then absorbed into the lymphatic system, following the route that cancer cells are most likely to take when they spread from the primary tumour and become trapped in sentinel lymph nodes. The Sentimag probe moves over the skin emitting sounds of different pitches as it passes over the Magtrace tracer, in a similar way to a metal detector locating metal in the ground. The nodes often appear dark brown or black in colour, which also helps with identification.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has raised its concerns over rising cost of rent for its members. The association highlighted that pharmacy spending is shrinking, and therefore, the NHS Property Services must ensure viability of health centre pharmacies. In May, the NPA wrote to NHS Property Services to voice its concerns over the rising cost of rent after some of its members reported demands for a three-fold increase in rent. Many pharmacies operate in premises of which NHS Property Services is the landlord. In a letter last month to chief executive Martin Steele, NPA said: "The past years have seen far fewer patients in health centres and therefore using the on-site pharmacy - whilst the situation will change somewhat as we move out of the pandemic we expect a permanent impact on workload as practices handle more of their interactions virtually. "The NPA encourages NHS Property Services to review lease agreements involving community pharmacies and consider favourable changes to terms that are in line with current financial realities affecting the sector. This could avoid the loss of a pharmacy service to communities and the resulting loss of rental income to NHS Property Services."

NHS moves a step ahead towards its efforts to address covid-19 backlogs by opening a new 'planned care' hospital in Berkshire dedicated to non-emergency treatment. Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, part of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, will focus on cutting waits for routine care with staff prioritising patients who have been waiting longest, including for orthopaedic and ophthalmology services. The hospital houses six operating theatres, 48 inpatient beds and 22 day-case cubicles and provides surgical, diagnostic and outpatient care, and will treat patients across Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey. There will also be a range of outpatient services under the same roof including gynaecology, urology and cardiology services. These will be supported by services offering patients endoscopy, physiotherapy, phlebotomy and radiology checks and treatments.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has published a guidance for community pharmacies to help them in the implementation of the new Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The new policy will rollout from 1 April 2023, patients who are not already exempt from NHS prescription charges will be able to purchase an annual HRT PPC for the cost of two single prescription charges Major concern raised by PSNC is that the NHS systems have not kept pace with policy, as the certificate is launching without the IT in place to support it. PSNC has been clear that this is totally unacceptable, including raising this with Ministers directly and warning them that introducing the PPC without this infrastructure risks causing confusion for some patients and adding to the burden for pharmacy teams. "Government recognises the challenges but is determined to move forwards with the policy, said the committee. "DHSC has recognised the impact this will have on pharmacies and we are still pressing for appropriate financial compensation. We have also sought guidance for GPs, and now published our own guidance to try to make the launch go as smoothly as it can for pharmacy teams."