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Community pharmacies played a central role in the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering more than 22 million jabs in the past 12 months. Besides delivering millions of jabs, latest figures from NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) revealed a 50 per cent increase in the number of pharmacies delivering Covid boosters compared from October 2021 to January 2022. NHSE&I released the data on Friday (January 14) to thank community pharmacy teams for their work during the crisis time. Lauding the efforts made by community pharmacy teams during the pandemic, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) director of NHS Services Alastair Buxton said: "Just over a year ago we were fighting for Government recognition of the part community pharmacy could play in administering Covid vaccines, so a year later it is great to see the efforts of the pharmacy vaccination sites being praised by NHSE&I, with recognition of the significant role they have played in the overall programme.

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.

At the Covid Inquiry on Tuesday, Sir Chris Wormald, permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), was questioned about the initial exclusion of community pharmacies in the government's emergency pandemic life assurance scheme. Earlier this month, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) submitted evidence to the inquiry highlighting the delay in including community pharmacies in the scheme - which offered £60,000 lump sum payments to NHS and care home staff who died from Covid. The inquiry heard that the scheme was launched on April 27, 2020, initially covering NHS and care home staff. However, then Health Secretary Matt Hancock only confirmed the inclusion of community pharmacy staff in a Tweet three days later, on April 30. NPA Chair Nick Kaye told the inquiry that it was "demoralising and demotivating" to community pharmacy staff who worked throughout the pandemic. Jacqueline Carey KC, Counsel to the Covid Inquiry, put the charge to Sir Wormald as he gave evidence about the department's response to the pandemic.

70 per cent of community pharmacies still waiting for government nod to start Covid booster jabdesc-Nearly 70 per cent of community pharmacies in England that offered to participate in the Covid-19 booster programme are still waiting for approval or have been refused, ministers admitted on Monday (December 13). The Liberal Democrats' health spokesperson, Daisy Cooper, exposed the low approval rate and long delays through a written parliamentary question to the health secretary as to "how many community pharmacies were providing Covid-19 vaccinations as of 3 December 2021."In response vaccines minister Maggie Throup said: "As of the end of September 2021, 4,733 contractors submitted 5,376 expressions of interest to take part in the booster vaccination programme, with 1,454 accepted."She added: "As of 3 December 2021, 1,336 community pharmacy vaccination sites were actively providing the service." Some applications were decided by NHS England rather than the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Has the government in England learned nothing from the Covid-19 pandemic? Nigel Swift, Managing Director of Rowlands Pharmacy, part of Numark, the UK's largest pharmacy membership association, asks reflecting on the disorderly launch of this year's flu and Covid booster vaccination program as evidence to the contrary. "Community pharmacies play a crucial role in ensuring eligible individuals can easily access their free NHS flu and Covid vaccinations," Swift said, adding that delivering this essential service necessitates pharmacy staff allocating time for preparation and appointment scheduling. "Just a few weeks ago, NHSE informed us that the vaccination program would be postponed until October, prompting pharmacies to plan accordingly and notify patients," he said. "However, NHSE has now reversed its decision and set the program to commence on Sept. 11. Pharmacy recommended an earlier start, but NHSE opted for a delay instead, resulting in avoidable problems." On Aug. 30, NHSE announced plans to move up the start of the autumn vaccination drive in England to September 11, deviating from the initial October schedule, citing concerns about a new Covid-19 variant.

The UK's Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said mistakes at a testing laboratory led to misreporting of tens of thousands of positive COVID-19 cases as negative and may have resulted in the deaths of about 20 people. Britain has one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world, with more than 177,000 deaths since the pandemic started in 2020. Many experts have said the contact tracing programme fell well short of the "world-beating" system the government had promised. An investigation by the government agency responsible for responding to public health emergencies said the Immensa laboratory in central England was found to have misreported around 39,000 tests as negative when they should have been positive between September 2 and October 12 last year.

Former chancellor Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates vying to be Britain's next premier, criticised the way outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson handled the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it had been a mistake to "empower" scientists and that the downsides of lockdowns were suppressed. The Tories are choosing a new leader after Johnson was forced to quit when dozens of ministers resigned in protest at a series of scandals and missteps. Party members are voting to select either Sunak or foreign secretary Liz Truss, who will take over next month. Opinion polls show Sunak is behind in race. The handling of the pandemic has become an issue, with Truss saying this month she would never again approve another lockdown and also asserting that as trade minister at the time she was not involved in taking the key decisions about how to respond. Sunak said the government had been "wrong to scare people" about coronavirus. He said he was banned by officials in Johnson's office from discussing the "trade-offs" of imposing coronavirus-related restrictions, such as the impact on missed doctor's appointments and lengthening waiting lists for healthcare in the NHS.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) temporary register which was expected to close on 30 September 2022 will continue for the next two years following a request from the secretary of state for health and social care. The temporary register was set up in 2020 after the then secretary of state asked the GPhC to use its emergency powers in order to rapidly register pharmacy professionals to assist in the national response to the Covid-19 emergency. The UK government has made this decision, which is referenced in its new 'Plan for Patients' in England to enable health professionals on the temporary registers to continue to support the health and social care system. The Government had previously announced that the temporary registers established by the health professional regulators were expected to close on 30 September 2022. The decision by the UK government to ask the regulators to keep the temporary registers means that pharmacy professionals on GPhC temporary register can continue to practise.

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.

Pharmacists on the temporary register will be automatically removed on April 1, unless they have applied to rejoin the permanent register, the General Pharmaceutical Council has said. The government asked the GPhC and other pertinent health professional regulators to close temporary registers by March 31, 2024. According to the GPhC, this decision is based on the anticipation that the emergency conditions justifying the establishment of these temporary registers will cease after the approaching winter. The temporary register was established after the Health and Social Care Secretary asked the Council to utilise its emergency powers to swiftly register pharmacy professionals for their essential role in the national COVID-19 response. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who had previously opted to withdraw from the GPhC register or failed to renew their registration are now eligible for immediate re-registration, the regulator added.

Community pharmacies are well placed to play a role in preventing deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) said Director of NHS Services. The recent analysis by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) revealed that nearly 100,000 more people with cardiovascular disease than expected have died since the start of the pandemic in England. Latest figures show that the number of people waiting for time-sensitive cardiac care was at a record high of nearly 390,000 at the end of April in England. Average ambulance response times for heart attacks and strokes have consistently been above 30 minutes since the beginning of 2022, and in December 2022 they even breached 90 minutes. The target is 18 minutes, though the Government has set a new average target of 30 minutes over 2023/24. Director of NHS Services, Alastair Buxton, said: "It is concerning to hear that there have been tens of thousands of preventable deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We share BHF's desire to see more action on preventing the causes of CVD and, subject to appropriate funding being in place, community pharmacy teams are well placed to play a role in this.

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."

In his maiden speech delivered to community pharmacy since becoming new minister with responsibility for the sector, Will Quince MP said he's determined to be "your champion" and "voice in government". Addressing delegates on Wednesday (Oct 12) as chief guest at the 22nd Pharmacy Business Awards in central London, he praised community pharmacy for delivering 25 million Covid-19 vaccines, five million flu jabs, 200 million lateral flow testing kits and millions of medicines throughout the pandemic. "These local efforts became the national success story," he told over 600 attendees at a gala dinner held at the iconic Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel overlooking the Houses of Parliament. 'We need you now' Quince, who was appointed minister of state at the Department of Health and Social Care on 7 September 2022, added: "Just as we needed you in the pandemic, we need you now," highlighting the vital role of community pharmacy in realising the secretary of state (Thérèse Coffey)'s vision, particularly in regard to her much talked about 'Plan for Patients'.

E-pharmacy, a digital platform also known as internet pharmacy or online pharmacy, has emerged as an escape route to longstanding queues at pharmacy stores across almost all regions of the world, especially during the Covid-19 health crisis realm. They have long been recognised to act promptly in public health response, like ensuring an effective medicine supply system, resolving and monitoring drug shortage issues, educating about the proper use of PPE, promoting remote pharmacy services, and conducting drug evaluation and active surveillance. These factors will support in easing the load on healthcare facilities during the ongoing pandemic, eventually adding value to patients and the healthcare system. Overall, the e-pharmacy market size is expanding in terms of valuation on the back of regulations and standards laid by the respective governments. As per a recent study by Global Market Insights, the global e-pharmacy industry accounted for a business share of $68 billion in 2021 with an anticipated growth rate of 16.8 per cent through 2028.

Lord Markham, a health minister suggested the House of Lords on Tuesday (10 January) that plan of 'using pharmacies more for patient will put funding their way', just like allocation of Covid vaccine provided support. In a statement to the House of Lords he praised the sector saying they are a 'crucial part of the front line'. His statement was in response to a question from Lord Grade, who is campaigning on behalf of the community pharmacy sector. Lord Grade warned Government that it must take action before pharmacies start to close. On Monday (9 January) the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay MP, commented: "There are many more things that community pharmacists can support with that can ease pressure on General Practice. The Primary Care recovery plan will set out a range of additional services that Community Pharmacy can deliver."

Pharmacy bodies have welcomed the new minister in charge of the profession amid warnings that he will find the sector in a state that is "more fragile that ever" due to "untenable funding and workforce pressures". Neil O'Brien was re-appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on October 25 and was later assigned the pharmacy brief. The Conservative MP for Harborough - who will have a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including primary care and pharmacy - has taken over the position from Will Quince MP, who had a brief stint as pharmacy minister but remains at the department on a different role. O'Brien was was handed a junior minister's job at DHSC on 7 September 2022 in the government led by Liz Truss but fellow Conservative Quince was assigned primary care duties including pharmacy. Welcoming him to his new role, The Company Chemists' Association said that the minister would find that the community pharmacy sector was "more fragile than ever" with untenable pressures over funding and workforce.