Cardiac surgery refers to a range of surgical procedures performed on the heart and blood vessels. These surgeries are typically performed by a cardiac surgeon, a medical professional with specialized training in the diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions.
Grundon Waste Management has introduced what it claims to be the UK's first verified nationwide inhaler return and recycling initiative. NHS Trusts and
community pharmacies participating in the new scheme will have specialised recycling containers for inhalers installed to simplify public participation, Grundon
said in a statement.
Inhalers alone contribute to 4 per cent of NHS CO2 emissions, with around 73 million dispensed annually. By 2026, the health service aims to achieve a 50 per cent
reduction in carbon emissions from waste management, a target that rises to 80 percent between 2028 and 2032, as outlined in the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy.
"This scheme holds the potential to revolutionise the approach of NHS Trusts towards achieving heightened carbon savings and ultimately, net zero emissions," said
Chris Edwards, Grundon's General Manager - Technical. "Each discarded pressurised Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) contains highly polluting hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)
gases - a category of greenhouse gas known to be over a thousand times more detrimental than carbon dioxide in driving climate change."
"This initiative securely captures these gases and repurposes them for application in the refrigeration sector. By also recycling the plastic and aluminium
components of the device, we are making a noteworthy contribution to the circular economy," he added.
Once collected, these will undergo processing at Grundon's specialist recycling facility in Ewelme, Oxfordshire, which is capable of handling more than 200,000
inhalers a day. The company aims to recycle 80 per cent of all prescribed inhalers by 2025, the statement added.
There is clear evidence that the majority of distance selling pharmacies are operating in breach of their NHS contracts, and a failure to properly
regulate 'pseudo' distance selling pharmacies is leading to local pharmacy closures, the Company Chemists' Association has reported.
According to the CCA's recent findings, 72 per cent of DSPs dispense over 50 per cent of their prescriptions to patients within a single postcode area within
10 miles of the pharmacy.
"Operating within constrained geographical regions, pseudo-DSPs achieve reduced overheads and operational costs by focusing on localised marketing and medicine
delivery. They compete against local brick-and-mortar pharmacies, causing them to lose vital trade," the CCA claimed, based on its recent survey - The Impact of
Pseudo Distance Selling Pharmacies.
"As per their terms of service, DSPs are obligated to provide prescription delivery nationwide, extending beyond local patients," said the CCA, adding that the
financial savings resulting from the lack of patient access are balanced by the necessity to function on a national scale.
The National Health Service said that over 425,000 patients have utilised its new national online service to complete GP registration within its inaugural year.
The GP surgery registration service, managed by NHS England, has granted NHS patients efficient and user-friendly access to GP registration since its inception in
August 2022.
According to the NHS, more than 1,400 GP surgeries, a fifth of the national count, have joined the NHS online registration service as part of a new plan to improve
access to primary care. "This aligns with a new strategy to enhance primary care access, with a target of enrolling 2,000 practices in the Register with a GP
surgery service by December 2023."
Many GP surgeries still use paper forms, requiring patients to visit surgeries to collect paperwork. However, the new online service has been shown to save GP
surgery staff up to 15 minutes per registration by helping to reduce paperwork and admin time, the NHS said.
The NHS said that this service enables patients to register with a local GP online at any time, eliminating the need for in-person visits and simplifying the
process for both patients and GP surgeries.
Men can now have their blood pressure checked while visiting a barbershop. The NHS is extending its blood pressure screening services to different local
venues, including barbershops, mosques, and pharmacies. This initiative aims to address the increasing risk of strokes and heart attacks among men.
NHS staff's life-saving actions coincide with recent data indicating that high street pharmacies administered 149,865 blood pressure checks to individuals over
40 in May 2023. This marked a notable increase from the previous year's count of 58,345 in May 2022, the NHS said. "More than 1,300 heart attacks and strokes
could be prevented this year thanks to the high street checks."
"The total number of blood pressure checks delivered by pharmacy teams in the year to March was more than 1 million (1,053,278)," the NHS added.
Furthermore, the government has committed £645 million for a range of added pharmaceutical services. This includes a target of conducting 2.5 million extra blood
pressure checks annually at community pharmacies. This effort is estimated to avert over 1,350 cardiovascular events per year - equivalent to averting 113 heart
attacks and strokes each month.
The Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay has proposed a new £30 million fund to speed up the adoption of innovative medical technology in the NHS.
He confirmed the plan today at the Conservative Party Conference 2023 in Manchester.
Mr Barclay said that virtual wards will help healthcare professionals embrace new technology to improve patient care.
He said: "It is vital that clinicians have access to the latest technology to save staff time, deliver high-quality care and help cut waiting lists - one of the
government's top five priorities.
"This investment will see the latest tech innovations rolled out across the NHS. From virtual ward beds to wearable medical devices, patients will be better
supported, and we will ease pressures on hospitals this winter.
"We're preparing for this winter earlier than ever before including delivering thousands more hospital beds and hundreds of new ambulances."
As we transition in England through yet another NHS organisational change, I ask myself what does this mean for community pharmacy? I would like to think that
this change will bring about opportunity and a chance for community pharmacy to showcase and continue the excellent work that was carried out during the height of
the pandemic and is still ongoing today.
I hope that it allows community pharmacy to be regarded as part of the NHS rather than sitting on the side lines. This change has to lead to better funding for
community pharmacy, without sufficient funding we will see more pharmacies close.
We are hearing a lot about winter pressures but this year it feels like all year round pressure. What I have seen, whilst the NHS is under such pressure, is North
East London (NEL) CCG transitioning to an integrated care board (ICB) almost seamlessly.
I have seen people transitioning into new roles, whilst working hard to ensure that all plates are still spinning, which at the moment is no mean feat. I spent a
day out recently visiting pharmacies with the chief medical officer of NHS NEL, Dr Paul Gilluley.
The visits were positive, we felt listened to and understood. The feedback was great, it was recognised that community pharmacy is often the informal front door to
the NHS and that we have so much to offer in terms of ill health prevention.
Community pharmacy can offer a total solution as long as we have the tools to do so, which can save so much time and money. An example is the GP CPCS service, which
has launched well across NEL.
Online retail giant Amazon said on Tuesday (January 24) it is offering a $5 monthly subscription plan for U.S. Prime members that will cover a range of generic
drugs and their doorstep delivery, furthering the ecommerce giant's push into healthcare.
The program, named RxPass, includes more than 50 medications addressing over 80 chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes and male pattern
baldness, Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy's chief medical officer, has said.
However, customers enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid or any other government healthcare program will not be able to enrol in Amazon Pharmacy's RxPass service.
The average Prime member would save about $100 per year with RxPass, John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, said. Amazon Prime members in most U.S. states
can sign up for the program from January 24.
The flat $5 charge would be without insurance and on top of the Prime membership fee, which costs $139 per year in the United States.
A new report based on research from pharmacists across England by Sanofi, has called for the introduction of a 'national self-care strategy' to relieve the
burden currently faced by health services.
The new report, titled 'Driving a self-care revolution in the UK', explores the views of pharmacists, patients and doctors on self-care and the support needed to
deliver it more effectively. While self-care policy measures are estimated to increase monetary savings for healthcare systems and national economies by 16%, this
report highlights the right tools and resources are not yet in place to enable pharmacists to play a greater role in delivering self-care advice and medicines to
patients.
"As many as 77% of pharmacists said they would support the creation of a National Self-Care Strategy to provide national leadership on improving understanding of
self-care and encourage its use among both patients and clinicians," the report said.
According to the report, currently, 33% of pharmacists working for independent or small pharmacy chains do not have the resources to support patients with self-care,
alongside their other roles. "To tackle this, close to half (45%) of pharmacists believe greater emphasis by primary care practitioners on the benefits of self-care
would leave pharmacists in a better place to support patients. Similarly, 42% believe that training and recruiting more pharmacists would improve their capacity to
deliver self-care advice."
Britain has become the first country to approve a Codiv-19 vaccine that targets both the original and Omicron variant of the virus.
Medicines regulator MHRA approved the so-called bivalent vaccine made by US drug company Moderna as a booster for adults.
The agency's decision was based on clinical trial data that showed the booster triggered "a strong immune response" against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original
2020 virus, it said.
The MHRA also cited an exploratory analysis in which the shot was also found to generate a good immune response against the currently dominant Omicron offshoots BA.4
and BA.5.
"The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines being used in the UK continue to provide important protection against the disease and save lives," MHRA chief executive
June Raine said in a statement.
"What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharpened tool in our armoury to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve."
The future of community pharmacies is in danger. With some 639 local pharmacies closing in England since 2016, action is clearly needed to ensure their
longevity and maintain their rightful place on the high street.
With increasing pressure on the NHS, which is suffering from healthcare backlogs and long waiting lists following the harsh impact of the pandemic, pharmacies
have an opportunity to create a more substantial contribution within the healthcare industry.
To ensure that pharmacies are able to embrace this opportunity, they need to be equipped with the necessary tools to enable them to meet the needs of an increasingly
digital population.
One way of doing this is to support pharmacies online, by providing them with a means to connect to patients via mobile, tablet or desktop. In turn, the UK population
needs to be more aware of the services that can be provided by a pharmacist - many of which would save them from visiting a GP.
The NHS has secured a deal for 'Pembrolizumab' to treat women with triple-negative breast cancer.
Up to 1,600 women a year affected by high risk triple-negative breast cancer are set to benefit from the confidential deal struck by the NHS and the Merck Sharp
and Dohme's (MSD), manufacturer of Pembrolizumab.
Triple-negative breast cancer affects around 8,000 women a year - accounting for 15% of all breast cancer cases.
This will be the 25th breast cancer treatment fast-tracked to patients through funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund and the second treatment for triple negative breast
cancer to be introduced this year on the NHS.
NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: "This is a hugely significant moment for women - the NHS has struck a new deal to roll out a potentially life-saving
drug for patients suffering with the most aggressive form of breast cancer that has been traditionally very difficult to treat.
The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has published a positioning paper which sets out the objectives that need to be delivered through the
next Voluntary Pricing and Access Scheme (VPAS) on Thursday (15 June).
The paper details how a financially sustainable VPAS can support widened medicines access to patients.
VPAS is an agreement between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
The scheme aims to limit increases in spending on branded medicines to no more than 2% per year via a rebate system which is charged on companies' sales revenues.
Two years ago, the rate was 5.1% but for 2023 it has soared to 26.5%. Last year, the association had raised concerns over the rise in the VPAS rate for 2023 to
26.5 per cent.
"The rocketing rate is in large part due to the growth in spend in on-patent medicines since 2019. Looking at the four completed years of the current VPAS scheme,
data shows that the average annual growth rate for on-patent medicine sales value from 2019-22 was 18% compared to just 2% for off-patent products," said the
association.
Glenmark, a multinational pharmaceutical company, has partnered with AI data-driven supply chain management platform 7bridges.
Initially focusing on their European business, where they have operations in 15 markets, the supply chain and logistics function is a big focus area for this cost
reduction.
The partnership with 7bridges will allow Glenmark to baseline their supply chain data giving them visibility of data, cost and service performance across their
network of logistics service providers.
This exercise will identify areas where invoices from their logistics service providers are being incorrectly or overcharged. With automatic dispute raising,
savings will be quickly achieved. The platform will then enable Glenmark to benchmark their data, so they can compare the performance and cost of their LSPs to the
wider industry.
With Glenmark's global vision to emerge as a leading integrated research-based global pharmaceutical company, this investment in their supply chain will be integral
to achieving this.
The next step in the partnership will be to run simulations to optimise road freight services and 3PL operations, with the aim to then roll out globally.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has proposed a 7.5 per cent increase in all fees for pharmacies, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and foundation
trainees, including those for registration and renewal from April 2024.
According to the GPhC's proposal the pharmacist renewal fee would increase by £19 from £257 to £276; the pharmacy technician renewal fee would increase by £9 from
£121 to £130 and the pharmacy premises renewal fee would increase by £27 from £365 to £392
Any changes would be effective from April 2024, which means fees will remain at current levels for this financial year, giving registrants and applicants time to
prepare for any increase in subsequent years.
Fees have been frozen for the last two years (2022 and 2023) to help reduce pressure on both pharmacy professionals and pharmacy owners.
Chief Executive, Duncan Rudkin, said: "In the last few years, we have been able to avoid raising many of these fees by improving our efficiency and by using our
financial reserves to cover any gap between our income and our outgoings. While we are continuing to look for ways to make savings, we now have to consider
increasing fees.
