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England's chief pharmaceutical officer (CPhO) David Webb has promised his "wholehearted support" for the community pharmacy sector at the board meeting of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) on 28 June in St Albans. After hearing the CPhO at the meeting, NPA chair, Andrew Lane, later declared: "David is someone we can do business with." Webb thus listed his priorities as head of profession: integration of independent prescribing as part of pharmacy practice by 2026; promotion of inclusive pharmacy practice for all pharmacy professionals; assurance of post-registration practice; developing the role of pharmacy technicians; support for Integrated Care Systems and Primary Care Network pharmacy teams (including community pharmacy); medicines optimisation; and strengthening of professional leadership for community pharmacy. He also reported that NHS England had recently increased its team of regional pharmacy integration leads from seven to 14, creating seven new senior posts. Webb told NPA board members: "I want sincerely to thank community pharmacy teams for everything they are doing and to say that you have my wholehearted support. I believe in the importance of community pharmacy and will listen and engage as I've already demonstrated.

Walgreens Boots Alliance on Tuesday (June 28) scrapped the plan to sell its UK high street pharmacy chain saying no third party was able to make an adequate offer due to the turmoil in global financial markets. Walgreens' move to call off the sale comes as private equity bidders Apollo Global and TDR faced headwinds in raising financing for the deal, as banks were wary of underwriting large chunks of the financing due to tough market conditions. Boots was initially valued at as much as £8bn with the auction process being led by Goldman Sachs. Global economic uncertainty and rising inflation have triggered a spike in interest rates as central banks have rushed to take action in the most widespread tightening of monetary policy for more than two decades, making deal financing costlier and harder to access. Walgreens had put its Boots UK business up for sale after announcing a strategic review in January as the second-largest US pharmacy chain renewed its focus on domestic healthcare. The company said the decision to retain Boots and No7 Beauty Company was also underpinned by their ongoing strong performance.

Boris Johnson has picked Steve Barclay as the new health secretary following the resignation of Sajid Javid, who stepped down on July 5 after saying he had lost faith in prime minister's leadership. Barclay - who had served as chief of staff of the prime minister since February 2022 - was previously a junior health minister in 2018, responsible for NHS workforce and finance, before serving as Brexit secretary, chief secretary to the Treasury, and chancellor of the duchy. He is the fourth health secretary after Jeremy Hunt, Matt Hancock and Sajid Javid in the past five years. In a statement on his appointment, Barclay said it was "an honour" to be take up the position, adding: "Our NHS and social care staff have showed us time and again - throughout the pandemic and beyond - what it means to work with compassion and dedication to transform lives. "This government is investing more than ever before in our NHS and care services to beat the Covid-19 backlogs, recruit 50,000 more nurses, reform social care and ensure patients across the country can access the care they need."

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has developed two new resources- Keeping patients safe being open and honest and Pharmacy team toolkit - learning from incidents, to help pharmacists and pharmacy technicians fulfil the duty of candour - the professional responsibility to be open and honest with patients if/when something goes wrong. The new resources bring together relevant existing policy, standards, and previous statements on the professional obligations of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, with respect to candour. It also emphasises that the duty of candour is not an add on - it's a fundamental part of pharmacy professional practice. The responsibility to be open and honest applies even in difficult or challenging times and it's essential that professionals do the right thing for patients, their families and carers. Saying sorry meaningfully when things go wrong is vital for everyone involved. Given the link with issues around liability and indemnity, the National Pharmacy Association and the Pharmacists' Defence Association - as leading providers of professional indemnity - have also contributed to the new resources and highlighted the importance of openness and transparency in this context.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) Union says it will be reaching out to LloydsPharmacy soon over a better deal on salary increase after the majority of its members rejected a three per cent offer made by the company recently. Paul Day, director, PDA Union told Pharmacy Business: "The PDA Union will communicate the response of employed pharmacists to the company and seek further discussion to try and find an offer that will be acceptable to union members. "Both management and union representatives have a vested interest in working to find such a solution and that is the outcome we hope to achieve." After months of negotiation by the PDA Union, the company offered a three per cent increase in salaries from the 1.8 per cent in the earlier offer made by the company. "Through negotiation over last few months that was increased to 3.0 per cent, plus a long term incentive plan (LTIP). Though the LTIP potentially offers large bonuses, it isn't guaranteed. Therefore what we put to members was the confirmed offer of three per cent increase in salaries," said Paul.

Almost nine in ten community pharmacists in England say they have patients who sometimes go without prescription medicines because they cannot afford the prescription charge levied by the government. Sixty-eight per cent of pharmacists in a National Pharmacy Association (NPA) survey, conducted via email in June 2022, said this has become more frequent in the past year - suggesting that the rising cost of living could be leading more people to miss out on vital medicines. While prescription charge does not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in England an NHS patients needs to pay £9.35 per item. For patients who need multiples medicines the cost could be exponential and virtually unaffordable amid rising inflation and higher cost of living. The survey found that 89 per cent of pharmacies in England have patients who sometimes go without prescription medicines due to cost. For most pharmacists (74 per cent) this happens one to five times a week. Fifteen per cent said they see such patients from six to 20 times a week.

Tesco, one of the leading pharmacy chains in the UK, has been allegedly accused of forcing some locum pharmacists to accept lower rates or it will cancel their booking. The issue has been brought to the notice of the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) by some of its locum pharmacists members. "Some locum pharmacists who had existing confirmed bookings at Tesco stores have reported to the PDA that the company has contacted them to say that if they do not agree to accept lower rates than have already agreed, the company will cancel their booking," said PDA. "The reported messages follow a communication from Tesco setting self-imposed so-called "wage rates" for locums. This is confusing as locums are self-employed and therefore should be able to negotiate rates with their clients just as any other independent supplier can do. Using terminology such as "wage rates" is more indicative of an employer-employee relationship and could undermine the status of the locum market in community pharmacy. Employees are also entitled to various extra benefits and have greater employment rights."

Authorities in Northern Ireland have seized more than 242,000 unlicensed prescription tablets purchased online and destined for addresses throughout NI. The medicines seized include Diazepam, used for anti-anxiety treatment, Pregabalin, used for epilepsy and anxiety, steroids and Zopiclone. Other prescription medicines recovered included Tamoxifen, often used in the treatment of breast cancer and Salbutamol inhalers, frequently used in the treatment of asthma. "Co-operation between law enforcement agencies and government departments has led to the seizure of over 242,000 illegal and unlicensed tablets purchased online and destined for addresses throughout Northern Ireland," justice minister Naomi Long was reported as saying. The minister, together with health minister Robin Swann and assistant chief constable Mark McEwan PSNI were highlighting Northern Ireland's input to the global, Interpol co-ordinated Operation Pangea XV, which saw multiple packages of tablets intercepted and seized, with a street value of almost £250,000. She praised the concerted efforts made by PSNI, Border Force and officials from the Department of Health Medicines Regulatory Group during a specific week of action in June.

A recent findings from a national survey in India by Healis-Sekhsaria Institute of Public Health, an organisation work in the field of public health in India and other developing countries reveals that exposure to mass media may impact the use of tobacco in India which is a major source of illness and death.

A new report published today (June 29) by the think tank Policy Exchange highlights key role for community pharmacy in management of primary-secondary care interface. The report called Medical Evolution has received cross-party support. It says an equivalent of 15 million GP appointments per year are spent dealing with issues managing care between GP practices and hospitals. Research from the think tank also finds 150,000 people could be on 'hidden' waiting lists (where a patient has been referred by a GP for further treatment, but not included on official hospital waiting lists). On the eve of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the report calls for the development of 'interface specialists' - which could be undertaken by doctors, nurses or community pharmacists to enable them to work more routinely across settings and to strategically plan interface working.

The UK is lagging behind comparable countries when it comes to cancer survival, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has said, calling on all political parties to make cancer a top priority in their party manifestos. While cancer survival rates in the UK have doubled over the last 50 years, the charity warned that the hard-won progress is at risk of stalling, with NHS cancer services in "crisis" and around half a million cancer cases a year projected by 2040. The charity has published an ambitious cancer plan which, if adopted by the next UK government, could dramatically improve cancer outcomes and prevent 20,000 cancer deaths a year by 2040. Called "Longer Better Lives: A Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care", the plan has been developed with the insights of cancer patients and experts from across health, life sciences, government and academic sectors, it said.

Following the UK government's new pay offer to NHS consultants, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) wrote to the Health Secretary Victoria Atkins calling for fresh negotiations about nursing pay in England last week. However, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has rejected their demand, stating that there is no basis to reopen talks as the pay deal was accepted by the NHS Staff Council. In the previous pay deal, nurses were given a one-off payment between £1,655 and £3,789 for 2022/23, and a 5 per cent consolidated pay increase for the 2023/24 financial year. Nursingnotes quoted a DHSC spokesperson as saying: "We hugely value the hard work of NHS nurses and that is why we provided a 5 per cent pay rise. "We also provided two significant non-consolidated awards, which for nurses at the top of Band 5 was over £2,000, equivalent to an extra 6.1 per cent of their basic pay.

Dr Michael Gamlen, the inventor of Gamlen instruments presents a tablet press machine to the students at the School of Pharmacy on 16 October. The equipment not only solves the challenge of producing lab-scale tablets under precise conditions but also offers valuable insights into material compaction properties. It is also known as a powder compaction analyser which has been given on loan to the University of Sunderland for five years. Dr Gamlen talks about the machine and how pharmacy students will benefit, saying: "It allows you to make tablets under tightly controlled conditions and enables you to make accurate comparisons between different materials and processes. "The students will be able to easily see the impact of the tablet compaction conditions on tablet properties. This is very important to understand when developing new tablet formulations and manufacturing products."

New data on weight loss drugs that could compete with Novo Nordisk's Wegovy are raising expectations there will soon be more options, and possibly lower prices, in an estimated $100 billion marketplace, doctors and pharmaceutical executives say. Drugmakers are ratcheting up their research and aiming for new formulations that can be taken as pills, options to deliver higher weight loss or drugs that reduce fat while maintaining muscle. "It has really been an explosion of innovation," said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief science officer at the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which receives funding from both Novo and Eli Lilly and Co and just concluded its annual meeting in San Diego, California. "If there are multiple (treatments) in the market, that will lead to some level of competition and greater access."

The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) published a shortage supply report on 17 October. They have officially stated that the shortage has resulted in care delays affecting 58 countries in their recent survey. It has been found in the report that 59 per cent of pharmacists said medicines shortage had delayed patient care, whereas 43 per cent confirmed it resulted in suboptimal treatment and 35 per cent said that it had led to the cancellation of care. András Süle, president of the EAHP spoke on the findings of the report, saying: "Problems caused by medicine shortages remain serious, threaten patient care in hospitals and require urgent action".

MP Steve Brine, the chair of the health and care committee, said that the healthcare in the UK "doesn't work without pharmacy". The inquiry focuses on addressing current issues, particularly around the "funding model, digital infrastructure and workforce recruitment, training and retention." Brine said at the Sigma annual conference on Sunday, that he wants to "focus on the sector", and "drill down into some of the challenges and potential" that lies ahead. "The Health and Social Care Committee, we think about much of our work through the lens of pharmacy, what role it plays, the quality of care that it delivers, and the potential for it to do more," said Brine. He further said that he wants to "build on the groundwork" and to "cover as many of the different pharmacy services within the pharmacy sector as we can, so pharmacy in our communities, in hospitals and general practice".

Duncan Rudkin, the CEO of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhc) has highlighted the importance of strengthening pharmacy governance to provide clarity around how pharmacies are organised and managed. This will ensure that patients and the public continue to receive safe and effective pharmacy care, he said while speaking at the annual Sigma Conference in London on Sunday (5 November). According to him, there could be rules that outlined the essential roles and responsibilities of responsible pharmacists, and professional standards for responsible pharmacists, superintended pharmacists and chief pharmacists. He also announced that the GPhC will be shortly launching a consultation to integrate a new set of standards for the statutory role of hospital chief pharmacists "which up until recently has never been recognised in law." It is expected to be launched by early January 2024. However, Duncan, emphasised that they cannot start the work on standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists until they know the government plans in relation to supervision. "Because of course, the responsible pharmacists' regime, and the supervision regime are in many ways intertwined, and can't certainly be looked at separately.

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.

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."

Working towards its five-year strategy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has put some plan in place to change its existing structure at the executive level, which could potentially render some senior positions redundant. Though the process is in nascent stage, "two roles have been identified at potential risk of redundancy," RPS said in a statement on Thursday (March 3) afternoon, adding: "This is very much at proposal stage and no final decisions or outcomes have been reached."0 It didn't specify which two roles were going to be axed, saying: "We are unable to go into the specifics of the process for individuals due to its confidential nature, but we will of course go through a fair, reasonable and confidential consultation process and are supporting the individuals involved. "No one should be in any doubt that our commitment to education and the profession's development remains the highest priority for us, and equally support for our members, thought leadership and advocacy are core to what we do as a professional leadership body."