In continuation of the NHS Covid vaccine programme, Covid jabs for five and six-year olds will be available at the local vaccination centres or community pharmacies outside of school hours.
Following the recent JCVI guidance that recommended all children between 5 and 11 would benefit from a non-urgent offer of the COVID vaccine, the NHS will send
invitations to one million families with five and six-year-olds this week.
"Invitations being sent to families this week will set out how easy and convenient it is to take up the offer of a vaccine as part of the NHS COVID vaccination
programme by booking through the National Booking Service, or visiting their nearest walk-in site," NHS said.
Between April 25 and May 1, there are already more than 33,500 children aged five to 11 booked in for their dose of the life-saving vaccine, with a further 50,000 slots still available.
Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and Deputy Lead for the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme, said: "It is great to see so many families already booked in for their children to receive their Covid vaccine this week, helping to protect themselves against potential future waves of the virus.
The minimum Covid-19 self-isolation period in England will be cut to five days from seven if someone tests negative twice, health secretary Sajid Javid said on Thursday (January 13) - a move that could reduce staffing disruption in businesses and infrastructure.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has fuelled a spike in Covid-19 cases to record highs in Britain, and the surge has cause major disruption to the staffing of hospitals, schools and transport as staff have to self-isolate.
"We've made the decision to reduce the minimum self-isolation period to five full days in England," Javid told parliament.
"From Monday, people can test twice before they go, leaving isolation at the start of day six."
The government had previously reduced isolation period to seven days from 10 days to people in England who get a negative result on a rapid lateral flow test two days in a row.
The General Pharmaceutical Council is in the process of appointing five new council members within the next two years, coinciding with the conclusion of the
current members' terms. The regulator aims to recruit five individuals from diverse professional and personal backgrounds for its governing council, the GPhC has
said.
"We are seeking three members to join us in April 2024 and two in April 2025," said GPhC in its job advertisement brief. "For the 2024 intake, two of the
new council members must be lay members of the public, while one must be a Saxton . Moreover, at least one out of the three must primarily reside or work wholly
or mostly in Wales. As for the new members commencing in 2025, one must be a lay member, and the other must be a registrant member."
The members will be initially appointed for a three-year term, with the option to extend their position for a maximum of eight years, GPhC added.
The council, which serves as the regulator's governing body, currently comprises 14 members. Half of the council consists of lay members, who bolster public
confidence and infuse novel viewpoints into the GPhC, as highlighted by the regulator.
"This council will play a pivotal role in shaping the regulatory body's future strategic goals," the regulator added. "These members must contribute positively
to patients and society, ensuring the benefits of secure and efficient pharmacy care."
A new research has suggested for a major boost to physical activity recommendation, even several notches up than the current World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations to achieve larger reductions in risks of five major diseases including breast and bowel cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has initiated the evaluation of its five-year strategy for changing the way it manage concerns about pharmacy
professionals. It has urged people to share their experience of fitness to practice.
The evaluation will look at how the strategy has improved the experience of people involved in fitness to practice (those who raise concerns, professionals,
witnesses etc.); impacted the culture amongst pharmacy professionals and their attitudes to openness and honesty; improved the process and made it fairer and
changed perceptions of fitness to practice.
The first phase of the evaluation process will take place from July to September 2023.
The council said: "We are committed to making our ambitions a reality for the benefit of everyone involved and your contribution will help us to make sure patients
and the public continue to be protected while being fair to pharmacy professionals."
In June 2021, GPhC published its five-year strategy- Managing concerns about pharmacy professionals: Guided by its 2030 vision and commitment to equality, diversity
and inclusion, the strategy outlines a programme for change.
Rather than waste your valuable time wading through so much information, in this blog post I'd like to give you my five golden rules for easy fat loss.
I have always been passionate about Community Pharmacy and am proud of the way that the sector navigated itself through Covid-19 and is currently navigating itself through all the changes in the NHS landscape.
When I started my role in Sep 2019 as the CEO of Kent LPC, I used to say that community pharmacy has changed more in the last five years than the 15 before that,
however, I now believe community pharmacy has changed more in the last two years than the 20 before.
The year 2019 saw the start of the five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework which set out how community pharmacy would support delivery of the NHS long term plan. What PSNC (or any of us) when negotiating this deal had not envisaged was the Covid-19 pandemic.
Whilst the world turned upside down, we saw high street shops close their doors and immense pressure flood the NHS. Community pharmacy did what they always do, they adapted, teams came together, worked through, and showed resilience in the face of adversity.
In Kent, I saw us integrate into primary are and into the NHS structure very quickly, in the first few weeks after Covid-19. All the usual red tape was removed, we all worked together to implement services to help patients in a matter of weeks when they would have normally taken months.
The regulators have reduced the notice periods for change to supplementary opening hours for community pharmacy contractors from 1 October 2022.
Following the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England as part of
Year 4 negotiations, it has been agreed that the required notice periods for changes to supplementary opening hours will reduce to five weeks.
Community pharmacy contractors who want to change their supplementary opening hours are required by their terms of service to notify NHS England.
"If a contractor wants to increase supplementary opening hours at the pharmacy, this can be done with no notice - but notification of the change must still be
given to NHS England," said PSNC.
"To decrease supplementary opening hours at the pharmacy, at least five weeks' notice must be given to NHS England prior to implementing the change."
HRA pharma has announced the resignation of David Wright who moves on after serving the company for more than five years as chief executive officer.
The company has appointed Martyn Hilton, chief commercial officer for HRA Pharma, as interim CEO effective from September 1, 2022.
David helmed the company during a period of transformation and set the course for its tremendous growth, elevating HRA Pharma into a leading provider of
over-the-counter self-care products.
He commented: "Given the significant progress HRA has made, along with my personal goals after leading HRA for more than five years, I believe now is the time to
step away from the business.
"I am proud of all that we have accomplished, making HRA well-known for its Women's Health, Wound Care and Scar Care leadership, operating via brands including
ellaOne, Hana, Compeed and Mederma. I appreciate all the team members involved in the success of the organization and believe Perrigo and HRA are well-positioned
to elevate this business and these brands to the next level."
The British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA) has warned that England's 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) may need to allocate an extra £37 million
from their budgets annually for the next five years due to the spiralling tax rates.
The government's Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS) rebate rate increased more than five-fold in the past two years, the BGMA said
in its white paper released on Monday (October 30).
The report, conducted by consultancy firm Conclusio in consultation with local NHS leaders, examined the potential effects of the VPAS on ICB budgets.
BGMA said that due to the elevated VPAS rate, each ICB in England will experience significant increases in expenses for branded generics and biosimilars
annually - a consequence of reduced competition.
The community pharmacy staff in Scotland will not be required to work for a minimum of five full days if they test positive for Covid-19.
The Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf has clarified that health and social care employees, including community pharmacists, will have to follow the guidance
on managing staff with symptoms of a respiratory infection, or a positive Covid-19 test.
While responding to Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Scottish Labour Party) written parliamentary question, Humza said, "If they work with patients or service users in
face-to-face settings, they can return to work if they have had two consecutive negative LFD test results (taken at least 24 hours apart)."
Jackie asked the Scottish government, "what its position is on the actions of Well Pharmacy, in light of reports that the company is insisting that staff who test
positive for COVID-19 continue to work when they are in patient-facing roles and dealing with clinically vulnerable people?"
The Pharmacists' Defence Association said: "This means that Well pharmacy will have to change their policy in Scotland and no longer allow Covid positive staff to
work in their pharmacies."
Superdrug has reported more than 400 per cent spike in sale of the chickenpox vaccines in the UK.
To protect children against the disease during chickenpox season, nearly nine out of 10 patients (87 per cent) have taken their wards under the age of five for vaccination in the last eight weeks.
Chickenpox can be a seasonal disease with children usually catching it in the winter and spring, with UK peaks often between March and May.
The last two years of spending time in and out of various lockdowns have meant less interaction between people, and so less transmission across the general population.
Caris Newson, head of healthcare services at Superdrug, said: "One of the knock-on effects of Covid is that people have a greater awareness and understanding of the benefits that vaccines can offer.
"We launched the chickenpox vaccination service five years ago in 2017 and it's now that we're beginning to see greater interest in how it can support family health. In fact, our fully qualified nurses have told us that they've had more parents ask about the chickenpox vaccination service, and word of mouth has then spread amongst parents and schools."
Independent charity group, Pharmacist Support has appointed five new trustees to its board - David Downham, Karen Harrowing, Mohammed Hussain, Mala Khiroya, and Alison Scowcroft, for a term of three years.
The new recruits will join the existing Board members Anita Cawley, Catherine Harper, Paul Johnson, Steve Lutener, Esther Sadler-Williams, Mark Sweeney and Sarah Willis.
Harrowing, Downham and Hussain have begun their 3-year term in January 2022, while Scowcroft and Khiroya would join the board in June.
The new appointments are in line with the Charity's plans, announced last year, to enhance its volunteer schemes.
"Since the launch of the charity's new strategy in January 2020, the profession has been faced with many new challenges. We are really proud of the work we have done in the last few years to address some of these challenges," said Pharmacist Support chief executive Danielle Hunt.
Community pharmacy workforce is in a fragile condition and faced a shortfall of 3,000 pharmacists in England over a period of five years, a recent research conducted by the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has revealed.
It noted that over the last five years, the net growth of community pharmacists in England a year stood at 733. This is much lower than the required average growth of 1,025, based on data reported by the Health Education England workforce survey from 2021.
Acknowledging the discrepancies in the data calculation, the paper published by the association has used "the best available data" to highlight recent changes to the community pharmacy workforce in England.
The report noted that despite an increase in the number of pharmacists, many contractors reported an increase in pharmacist vacancies. They also reported a significant increase in locum hourly pay rates, indicating demand exceeds supply.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) Board has elected 14 Board members on Friday (30 March) that will govern the association for next two years.
Four new Board members have been elected while five previous members left the Board after serving their terms. The period April 2023 to March 2025 will see the
completion of the transition to the new Board structure.
The Board will meet again on Monday (24 April) to elect the Chair and other appointments.
Gareth Jones, Returning Officer for the NPA Board elections, said: "The NPA has undertaken a process of significant modernisation of organisational governance over
the past years. Key elements of this process include adopting modern new Articles of Association, reforming the structure of the Board and introducing term limits.
The process of electing the Board has also been changed so that half of the Board will be up for election every two years - which supports continuity and reduces the
risk of a loss of organisational memory."
"Recognising that the Board would already be losing a lot of organisational memory in 2023 with five members of Board standing down, the Board determined that three
individuals should be co-opted onto the new Board as the process of transformation continues. In March 2025, anyone that has served 12 years or more will be required
to stand down."
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in recent response to the questions asked by members of the House of Lords addressed the concerning trend
of pharmacy closures in rural areas across the UK.
Led by The Bishop of St Albans, inquiries focused on the number of community pharmacies that had ceased operations over the past five years and the ongoing
financial challenges faced by those remaining in rural regions.
Lord Markham, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, provided insights into the stark reality confronting rural communities.
Highlighting data as per Guide to applying the Rural Urban Classification to data (2019-2023) Markham illustrated the significant closure rates of rural
pharmacies compared to the limited number of new openings between 2019 and 2023.
The figures revealed a fluctuating trend over the past five years, indicating a dynamic landscape within rural pharmacy provision.
Workplace accidents and injuries can happen anytime, regardless of which industry or the type of work environment you're into. Most often, it's theworkplace conditions and the danger of your task that creates these risks. However, certain workplace injuries in certain workplaces are much more serious than others.
If you've experienced any injury from your workplace during your working hours, you have the right to seek help from a workers' compensation lawyer. It could help you minimize the risk when you are aware of the common types of workplace injuries and taking preventative measures.
Below are five common types of workplace injuries that you should watch out for.
Injuries Caused By Trips, Slips, And Falls
Injuries Caused By Falling Objects
Injuries Caused By Falls From Heights
Injuries Caused By Falls From Heights
Injuries Caused By Fire And Explosions
Check Pharmacy Business website for details.
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The NHS is on track to miss out on savings of over a billion pounds as patents for a new lineup of 85 biologics are set to expire within the next five years,
the British Generic Manufacturers Association has revealed in its new study.
The government's Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access is expected to lead to a cost of more than £1 billion for the NHS in the coming years.
The BGMA research found that more than 85 biological medicines will experience loss of exclusivity during the upcoming VPAS Scheme period from 2024 to 2028.
"This includes blockbuster products like the cancer medicine Keytruda and wet macular product Eylea, which together generate approximately $25 billion in global
sales," BGMA said. "The molecules coming off-patent also cover other disease areas including oncology, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma."
While biological medicines dominate the medicines budget, constituting the largest cost and cost growth sectors, NHS England aims to expedite biosimilar
availability, yielding substantial savings and expanding patient access to vital treatments. Yet, the report found that "this is jeopardised by the influence of
the VPAS Scheme".