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Pharmacists, along with workers from other public sector workplaces, marched on 8 September demanding that the Scottish government take all available action
to mitigate the biggest reduction in living standards workers will have experienced for generations.
Pharmacists Defence' Association (PDA) members participated in the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) march to let the government know that "Scotland demands
better".
Paul Flynn, PDA national officer, said: "Pharmacists will be unwelcomely familiar with diminished purchasing power and a squeeze on household budgets for patients,
colleagues and pharmacists but what we will see this year and into 2023 will make previous experience pale by comparison."
The march organised by STUC saw thousands of workers, activists and concerned individuals march through the centre of Edinburgh's Historic Old Town in good spirits
while bearing flags and banners, chanting, singing, and calling for change in Scotland.
Boots UK has agreed to grant a five per cent pay increase to its pharmacists following a collaborative agreement with the Pharmacists' Defence
Association (PDA). This raise acknowledges the unique market conditions faced by pharmacists in the community pharmacy sector, Boots UK and PDA said in a
joint statement on Oct. 9.
According to the statement, the pay increase applies to all pharmacists within the PDA Union's bargaining unit, except for those who joined or received a pay
raise after August 2023. Moreover, trainee pharmacists or those not meeting performance standards are not eligible for the raise.
Additionally, pharmacists and store managers will receive a pro-rata, one-time non-consolidated payment of £750 in August 2024. This payment serves as recognition
for their dedication to establishing and providing new core and advanced NHS services, particularly in light of the substantial changes anticipated in the upcoming
year, the joint statement said.
The services include new medicines, hypertension, contraception, and common conditions services in England, the clinical community pharmacy service in Wales, and
the Pharmacy First services in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Pharmacists from BAME backgrounds still face higher levels of discrimination, harassment, bullying, and career obstacles compared to their white
counterparts, the Pharmacy Workforce Race Equality Standard (PWRES) report has revealed. Published by NHSE England, this report underscores the persistent
presence of inequality, emphasising the crucial need for all stakeholders in the pharmacy sector to prioritise addressing these issues.
The PWRES report indicates that pharmacy team members of Black ethnic backgrounds are less likely to perceive equal opportunities for career advancement or
promotion within their trust. Additionally, female pharmacy team members from BAME backgrounds report higher incidents of personal discrimination in the
workplace. The report also highlights an overrepresentation of pharmacy technicians from BAME backgrounds in lower-paid roles.
"It is shocking and unacceptable to see that across all indicators the BME staff experience is worse than their white counterparts," said Tase Oputu, Chair
of RPS in England.
A £5m project has been launched to introduce new blood tests in the National Health Service (NHS) that can diagnose Alzheimer's disease.
The blood tests could be available on the NHS within five years and they can diagnose the disease earlier and more accurately than current methods, experts have said.
Alzheimer's Research UK, the Alzheimer's Society and the National Institute of Health and Care Research have jointly launched the project.
Susan Kohlhaas, Executive Director of Research and Partnerships at Alzheimer's Research UK, said that the NHS doesn't possess the "required levels of diagnostic
infrastructure" to cope with the "growing demand" for dementia diagnosis.
"Low-cost tools like blood tests that are non-invasive and simpler to administer than current gold standard methods are the answer to this," she added.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has published the results of the common registration assessment for aspiring pharmacists held on 2 November, 2023.
An overall pass rate of 66 per cent was recorded this year, as compared to 56 per cent in 2022 and 61 per cent in 2021.
A total of 1,067 candidates took the registration assessment, held jointly by the GPhC and Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI), of which
700 candidates cleared the assessment
In 2022, 937 candidates sat the registration assessment of which 525 passed the assessment.
Commenting on the results, GPhC Director of Education and Standards, Mark Voce, said: "I would like to congratulate all those who passed the November
registration assessment and I look forward to them joining our register to continue to the next stage of their career.
"There will be candidates who unfortunately did not pass the assessment. If this is the case, the information on our website outlines all the possible
options of what to do next.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed that Ozempic has been found at two UK wholesalers on 18 October.
The pre-filled falsely labelled pens have been purchased from legitimate suppliers in Austria and Germany.
However, there has been no evidence that fake Ozempic has been supplied to UK patients.
Dr Alison Cave, MHRA Chief Safety Officer spoke about closely with regulatory partners to ensure patients' safety.
He said: "Buying semaglutide from illegally trading online suppliers significantly increases the risk of getting a product either falsified or not licensed for
use in the UK.
"Products purchased in this way will not meet our strict quality and safety standards, and taking such medicines may put your health at risk," he added.
The UK government will lay legislation today (13 December 2023) to allow the General Medical Council (GMC) to begin the process of regulating medical
associates to expand their roles in the NHS.
This will support plans to reduce pressure on doctors and GPs and improve access for patients, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
Physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) will have the same levels of regulatory oversight and accountability as doctors and other regulated
healthcare professionals once the regulations come into force, which is expected at the end of 2024.
The GMC will design and deliver detailed regulatory processes for registration, education, standards and fitness to practise for both professions.
Two weeks prior to the closing of the hub and spoke consultation, issues around patient safety, costs and competition as well as practicalities such as what
to do with uncollected medicines were discussed in a webinar on hub and spoke dispensing on Wednesday (May 26).
The webinar was organised by Sigma Pharmaceuticals in association with the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
NPA director of corporate affairs Gareth Jones chaired the event and was joined by Sigma's Hatul Shah and Raj Haria as well as NPA vice chair Nick Kaye and NPA
head of advice and support services Jasmine Shah.
Kaye said: "There are still many 'unknown unknowns' with hub and spoke and the jury's still out on any potential benefits. I have lots of reservations about cost
and it worries me how efficient this is for the business and the long term sustainability for the sector as a whole. Above all we need to think about the patient
at the centre of all this and the potential confusion for them."
Jasmine Shah felt patient safety was going to be the key in regards to whether the spoke and the hub would hold the ultimate responsibility and "who is going to
take the accountability as far as patient care goes".
She added: "It is most important that GPhC standards and NHS requirement are both met in identifying all the risks associated with the arrangement with hub and
spoke and ensuring that (patient safety) measures are in place. Everything that needs to be looked at is by putting the patient at heart of the arrangement and
seeing what is the safest way for them to receive care from both spoke and hub."
The Pharmacists' Defence Association has reported an increase in the number of pharmacists calling its advice line to inform about the incidences of violence and intimidation from protesters opposing the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
The association noted that such incidents have become more common with protesters "gaining entry to premises in groups and trying to disrupt Covid-19 vaccinations from taking place."
In many cases, pharmacists, staff, and members of the public have been subjected to verbal threats, causing distress and anxiety among those working to deliver the vaccination programme in a safe environment.
The PDA reminded that employers, having a contract with the NHS for the Covid-19 vaccinations, have a duty to keep their staff safe whilst at work.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards for pharmacy premises also carry a duty to ensure the safety of staff and the public receiving services on those premises.
Britain has approved Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine for use in those 18 years of age and older, the country's medicines regulator said on Thursday (February 3), bringing a fifth coronavirus shot to its roster amidst the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
The vaccine, Nuvaxovid, was approved as a first and second dose as it met the required safety, quality and effectiveness standards, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement.
The British approval for Nuvaxovid comes days after the drugmaker filed for US authorisation of the vaccine following months of struggles with development and manufacturing problems, and follows a German backing earlier in the day.
"We are continuing our vital safety work in monitoring the use of all Covid-19 vaccines, to ensure that their benefits in protecting people against Covid-19 disease continue to outweigh any risks," MHRA chief executive June Raine said.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has removed a pharmacist from its register who black-marketed 'zolpidem' along with another pharmacist between 2015
and 2016.
Dean Zainool Dookhan, a pharmacist first registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain on 18 October 2004 and whose registration was later
transferred to the General Pharmaceutical Council under registration number 2059808, was jailed last year for exporting 20,000 packets of zolpidem to the Caribbean.
While hearing the case on 24-25 May, GPhC's Fitness to Practise Committee stated that "removal of the Registrant's name from the register is the appropriate and
proportionate response to his convictions."
"The public interest includes protecting the public, maintaining public confidence in the profession, and maintaining proper standards of behaviour. The Committee
is entitled to give greater weight to the public interest than the Registrant's own interest in remaining on the register."
"The Committee recognises the sanction has a punitive effect in that the Registrant's ability to practise and earn an income as a pharmacist and 28 his professional
reputation will be curtailed; it will be five years before he can seek restoration to the register. However, that is the price he must pay for failing to comply with the fundamental tenets of his profession."
An oral drug combination by Novartis showed promise in treating a subgroup of patients suffering from a common childhood brain cancer in a trial.
In the mid-stage trial, 47 per cent of the patients that were given the two drugs Tafinlar and Mekinist saw their tumours shrink, far above a rate of 11 per cent
in a comparative group of participants on standard chemotherapy, the drugmaker said on Monday, June 6.
The participants, aged one to 17 years, were suffering from low-grade gliomas (LGG), the most common childhood brain cancer.
The trial only included those who were found to have a mutation known as BRAF V600, a genetic contributor in about 15 per cent to 20 per cent of paediatric LGG cases.
Among further results of the trial with 110 participants, the median time without disease progression was 20.1 months for those given the Novartis drug combo,
compared to 7.4 months on chemotherapy.
The new oral treatment candidate also caused less severe side effects than burdensome chemotherapy.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published plans to amend current pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and clarify how registered
pharmacies are governed.
The Department's response to a public consultation on rebalancing medicines legislation and pharmacy regulation programme first proposed in summer 2018 was
delayed due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The programme aims to clarify and strengthen the organisational governance arrangements of registered pharmacies, specifically to define and clarify the core
purpose of the Responsible Pharmacist and Superintendent Pharmacist roles.
It will also give the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) powers to define in professional standards how those roles are fulfilled.
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 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been accepted as a full member of three international work-sharing partnerships.
Through these partnerships the agency said it will play vital international role in making sure medicines and medical devices are regulated safely and efficiently
worldwide,
Two of these, the International Medical Device Regulatory Forum (IMDRF) and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals
for Human Use (ICH) are focused on improving the harmonisation and convergence of medicines and medical devices regulation globally.
The partnerships will also help the MHRA to share expertise with other leading organisations, support the development of regulatory guidelines and drive greater
harmonisation of regulation around the world. This will help deliver timely access to innovative medical products not just in the UK but globally.
Patient safety should remain a top priority in any healthcare setting. People should always receive the right advice, and pharmacists aren't 'GPs on the cheap.'
Staff should be fully trained, and medical equipment should be correctly maintained at all times. In turn, this helps create a safer environment for patients and
professionals alike. In this article, we'll discuss some of the factors that can enhance patient safety in healthcare settings.
AUTOMATION AND MONITORING
Automating processes within a facility can help streamline operations. This has the potential to reduce or eliminate human error that could result in serious injury
or death. In addition, automated systems often provide instant alerts when something goes wrong - allowing medical staff to react quickly and appropriately. Automated
solutions can help facilities achieve hand hygiene monitoring standards, and it's possible to schedule a demo and see their outcomes. They can reduce staff sick time
and HAIs, as well as Joint Commission citations and associated costs.
Monitoring helps ensure compliance with safety protocols. It's essential for improving patient safety and gaining data on all aspects of a facility's operations. It
also helps organizations track the effectiveness of their protocols and procedures over time. This helps them constantly evaluate and refine their policies, to
maximize patient safety benefits.
ADEQUATE STAFFING
In order to provide quality care, it's essential to have enough staff on hand to meet patient needs and ensure all protocols are being followed. Without this,
healthcare providers may struggle to provide prompt, efficient care - which can put patient safety at risk. Adequate staffing levels should be determined by a
variety of factors. They include patient numbers, the complexity of care required, and the size and layout of the facility.
Working conditions in pharmacies have worsened in 2021, the annual Safer Pharmacies Survey conducted by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) revealed,
highlighting the challenging and unsafe environments that some pharmacists are working in.
The survey asks pharmacists across all areas of practice about their experiences of key safety measures in the workplace.
Since the launch of the Safer Pharmacies Charter in 2017, PDA's annual surveys have monitored their feedback against the Charter's commitments, which covers seven
basic areas as standard practice for pharmacy work.
The commitments are No Self-Checking, Safe Staffing, Access to a Pharmacist, Adequate Rest, Respect for Professional Judgment, Raising Concerns and Physical Safety.
The survey revealed that eight out of 10 feel unsafe at work as violence and abuse still remain areas of concerns in pharmacy.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has confirmed that the recall of blood pressure drugs amlodipine and olmesartan by the Food and Drug Administration is
only for the US market and will not have any impact in the UK.
MHRA also clarified that the manufacturer of these drugs, Macleod Pharmaceuticals, does not supply amlodipine medicines in the UK.
It was published online in both the Daily Record and Daily Express on the morning of Monday, March 21, that the drugs had been recalled in the US by the FDA due to
deviations from standard manufacturing protocols by the manufacturer.
RPS intervened to ensure the articles were edited to make clear that this is not an issue in the UK after confirmation from the MHRA. Amlodipine tablets from Macleod
Pharmaceuticals aren't available for wholesale distribution in the UK.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called on employers, governments and NHS organisations to provide pharmacists with regular protected learning
time (PLT) within working hours to develop their skills in clinical delivery, education, research and leadership.
RPS workforce wellbeing survey showed an average 42 per cent of pharmacists were not given any PLT, a figure which rose to 55 per cent in community pharmacy. Most
were unable to engage in professional development activities as part of their working day because of their responsibility to deliver frontline clinical services to
patients.
This means learning is often undertaken outside of working hours, increasing pressure on individuals and impacting their work/life balance.
The survey showed that 48 per cent of respondents identified a lack of PLT as negatively affecting their mental health and wellbeing and that 88 per cent were at
high risk of burnout.
PLT improves the quality of patient care through professional practice and reflection, helping to develop insights, maintain and refine care standards and increase
confidence. It facilitates continuous professional development (CPD), ensuring that skills and knowledge are up to date.
