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Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid and Madelaine McTernan, head of the HRT supply taskforce, continue to take urgent action to resolve the shortage of HRT medicines by meeting the drug manufacturers and representatives from community pharmacies on Thursday (May 5). In the meeting, manufacturers outlined the steps they're taking to boost supply, and pharmacists shared their experiences on the frontline, as well as sharing their thoughts on wider solutions including improved communications. Aspen Pharmacare, Besins-Healthcare, Gedeon Richter, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Orion, Pfizer, Theramex, Viatris, and representatives from community pharmacies were part of the meeting. As the government confirmed its intention to work with industry to do what is necessary to fix the HRT supply issue, Javis said he wanted to understand the issues facing suppliers and what can be done to address them. "We will leave no stone unturned in our national mission to boost supply of HRT. Along with appointing Madelaine McTernan as head of the HRT supply taskforce to implement lessons learned from the pandemic, and ensuring prescriptions are issued in shorter cycles for now, we are working collectively with the sector to urgently resolve this issue," he commented. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) said the meeting discussed 'why we got into this position' and the way forward.

In a recent meeting with the head of the government's HRT Taskforce, Madelaine McTernan, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) board members gave a gist on the ongoing medicines supply issues in community pharmacy. The meeting, which explored possible solutions to end the nationwide shortage of some Hormone Replacement Therapies, took place on Friday (May 20). Independent contractors Reena Barai and Olivier Picard gave the so-called 'HRT tsar' an overview of the medicines supply issues in community pharmacy and discussed the new Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) which the government introduced in response to the on-going HRT disruption. Earlier this month, the NPA attended an HRT summit organised by the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside other pharmacy bodies, wholesalers and manufacturers. Health secretary Sajid Javid and pharmacy minister Maria Caulfield said they would be working collaboratively with manufacturers to meet demand and boost supply.

The latest inspection report of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) revealed that nine pharmacies did not meet their standards out of 52 pharmacies that were inspected between January 2023 and May 2023. Pharmacies are inspected on five principles - Governance, Staff, Premises, Services including medicines management and Equipment and facilities. Out of nine, eight pharmacies did not meet GPhC standard of governance which is defined to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public. Six pharmacies did not meet the GPhC standard of principle four which defines the way in which pharmacy services, including the management of medicines and medical devices, are delivered safeguards the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public. The purpose of these standards is to create and maintain the right environment, both organisational and physical, for the safe and effective practice of pharmacy. The standards apply to all pharmacies registered with GPhC.

The Community Pharmacy England Committee has adopted a new approach to engagement with sector by inviting all pharmacy owners to share their views on pharmacy's finances, pressures and capacity ahead of its meeting in July. It has sought views of pharmacists via short poll by Sunday (2 July) and will have a discussion on the poll results at the meeting before reporting back to the sector afterwards. The key focus for July Committee Meeting will be to make most of £645m for the community pharmacy sector, and also on the ongoing work to make the wider case for more investment in the sector. This new way of working follows association's rebrand on 30th May which signalled the start of its new approach to engagement to help them to build stronger relationships with pharmacy owners. The association hopes this new approach will help them better engage with members and listen to pharmacy's views better.

When a couple can not have children, they will often seek out a surrogate mother. This is a person that will carry the couple's child and deliver the baby. Once the baby is born the child will be handed over to the couple. Anyone wanting to become a surrogate mother should look into it thoroughly. You can be an independent surrogate or you can use an agency. The first thing you should do is find out what is expected of a surrogate mother and evaluate yourself to see if you can handle it. Read stories from women who have done it and how it affected their lives. This is not just business, this is your body and you will never be the same. Once you have decided that you can handle it, find out what you need to have a healthy pregnancy. What vitamins and diet you should be on are two very important things to look into. You should find out what the laws and rights are in your area concerning surrogate mothers. Surrogate Agencies There are many agencies out there. You can research them on line or look in the phone book. Each will be different in how they handle a case. Find out from them how they work and what they can do for you. Ask for references of other women who used the agency. Contact those women and ask them about their experience there. Once you have decided on an agency; you will be required to fill out an application. After that you will be checked by a doctor from the agency to make sure you meet all the requirements needed. Once you are signed up and deemed healthy by the agency, they will begin looking for couples that they think would be a good match for you. You will be contacted and meetings will be arranged with possible couples. After having several meetings, you will need to choose a couple. This couple should share your views on pregnancy. If you like coffee and they don't want you drinking it during pregnancy, then they may not be the right couple for you. This is a very important part of the process. Don't forget it isn't only you ch

After a series of internal pay negotiations and conciliation meetings, Boots has made a revised pay offer to its pharmacists. With the new development, the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has urged its members at Boots to "urgently respond to the Boots pay negotiations update survey on the current pay offer." It encouraged the members to complete the short survey sent to them via email. Last week, the PDA Reps Network in Boots hosted a series of virtual meetings for members that work at the company. As the element of the negotiations with Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) are ongoing, PDA could not provide more details about these meetings.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s members are seeking immediate rescue packages for the sector to help with energy bills and to ease capacity constraints. In a meeting held on 14th and 15th September, the committee members expressed their anger and frustration on the reluctance of NHS England and government to fund pharmacy sustainably. The meeting was held to consider practical steps to ease the pressures on the community pharmacy sector, and to oversee the progress of negotiations on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) and other work. Committee members, as pharmacy contractors, shared their experiences of the current pressures on all contractors, including the inability to deliver some services and to maintain core service levels; the capacity and workforce crises facing the sector; the critical need for funding support this winter; and the urgent need for Government to adapt the Price Concessions system to meet the needs of contractors. "The Price Concessions system is no longer working for contractors in the current volatile medicine supply environment and PSNC is clear this is not acceptable," said the committee.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) brought together a wide range of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy organisations from across Scotland at the Scottish Parliament on Monday (3 October) to support people living with disabilities. The meeting was chaired by Jeremy Balfour MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Disability, and the meeting was also attended by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Alison Strath. Attendees of the meeting committed to bold actions to support people living with seen and unseen disabilities to work in pharmacy. Last year, a survey of RPS members identified that living with a disability was considered to be the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy. This year, RPS is running a disability in pharmacy awareness campaign, to highlight some of the barriers and challenges raised by RPS members and to work with stakeholders across pharmacy to overcome these. Yesterday's conversation at the Scottish Parliament was a significant step in achieving this.

People who use pharmacies in parts of Pendle have suffered shortages or delays in buying prescription medicines such as insulin, councillors have been told. In the Barnoldswick area, a number of pharmacies have been impacted and some councillors hope a new regional NHS organisation might look into the problems. However, pharmacies in the neighbouring town of Nelson are facing shortages with other medicines. A pharmacists in Nelson Pharmacy told Pharmacy Business that he was struggling to meet local demand for children's paracetamol due to ongoing shortages. Pendle Council's West Craven Area Committee heard about the issues at its latest local meeting, held in Earby. An agenda for the committee stated: "Pharmacy provision in West Craven. It is reported that there is an acute problem with people being unable to get prescriptions filled, with Whitworth chemists suffering a breakdown in service. Previously, Well chemists has suffered similar problems." Speaking at the meeting, Lib-Dem Coun David Whipp said: "It's quite an appalling situation where people are queuing 30 minutes to get a prescription filled but when they get to the counter they are told it's not ready. They have to go home and come back at 5pm. It's an ongoing problem. "It includes insulin, which is critical for people with diabetes. I know several people who have failed to get insulin, It's a very serious problem." He added: "I think the committee should contact the local integrated care service. I think they are responsible for primary care which includes pharmacies. We need to find out what's happening and improve things in future. "

The Pharmacy Supervision Practice Group held its second meeting to discuss the future modelling of pharmacy practice. Some of the leading bodies from the community pharmacy sector have joined the group. The members explored themes centred around accountability, delegation and responsibility. The session included a wide-reaching discussion, including what future guidance might look like and the continued patient access to the pharmacist through a comprehensive, accessible and equitable community pharmacy offer. Chair of the group, Dr Michael Twigg, Associate Professor of Primary Care Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, said: "The primary objective of the group is to develop a co-designed and co-produced solution that will not only enhance the patient experience within community pharmacy practice, but that will enable the community pharmacy workforce to maximise role and professional skills. "At its second meeting, the group was unanimous that any changes in the delegation, responsibility and accountability space should be in the patient interest, distil confidence for patients and ensure that community pharmacy remains accessible and equitable."

An executive director of Day Lewis and also board director and member of Association of Independent Multiple pharmacies (AIMp) Jay Patel highlighted the key issues and on ground challenges faced by the community pharmacies in a meeting hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and health secretary Steve Barclay in Downing Street on Saturday (January 7) to tackle the NHS pressure. In his interview with BBC, he said: "He (prime minister) was very engaging and trying to understand the key issues and practical challenges on the ground." Patel described the meeting atmosphere as 'collaborative and proactive', and said, "people were genuinely asked their options and there were listeners too." On BBC, answering to a question on 'how community pharmacies can alleviate the NHS pressure?', Patel said: "Pharmacies is the workplace for this. We have trust of our patients; we have high skilled workforce both clinically and professionally. One of the opportunities we have is working around the acute treat

A full CPE Committee Meeting was organised in London on April 17 and 18, 2024, to discuss crucial sectoral issues. Key topics discussed during the two-day meeting included intolerable pressures on pharmacy owners, the ongoing Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) negotiations, implementation of the Pharmacy First service, and governance changes. Committee Members reviewed the progress of CPCF negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England. These critical negotiations are being led by the Negotiating Team (NT), which includes independent pharmacy owners and representatives of CCA and non-CCA multiples. The CPE has been advocating for an uplift to the core global sum, margin write-offs, an agreed mechanism for regular funding increases linked to activity and inflation, annual uplifts to service fees, more fundamental reform of the margin delivery framework and an economic review of the medicines supply chain. The Committee also discussed the results of the 2024 Pharmacy Pressures Survey, which was conducted during March and April.

TPNH2 Group is Organizing the 3rd Pediatric Infectious and Immunology Meeting in Dubai, which will be held from Oct 06 - 08, 2023.

Pharmacy bodies and MPs discussed on support needed to unlock the "full potential" of community pharmacy at the All Pharmacy Party Group (APPG)'s general meeting held in Westminster on Tuesday (01 November). The attendees of the meeting were Janet Morrison OBE, Chief Executive of Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee; Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of The Company Chemists' Association; Thorrun Govind, Chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society; Sanjeev Panesar, National Pharmacy Association Board Member, and Pharmacist Superintendent and Owner of the Pan Pharmacy Group; and Sandeep Dhami, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies member and superintendent at MW Phillips Chemist At the session, 18 parliamentarians were briefed on the myriad of ways pharmacies contribute to the health of the nation. The panel of experts also highlighted that pharmacists are 'running out of fuel' with the growing challenges such as flat funding, workforce shortages and the cost-of-living crisis impacting pharmacies' ability to deliver vital services.

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.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is seeking views from all community pharmacy owners about the pressures faced this autumn season. A survey has been launched as the "November Pre-Committee Opinion Poll" until 6 November to seek views from independents and non-Company Chemists' Association (CCA) members. The results of the poll will be sent to the head offices of CCA multiples next week for discussion at the November Committee Meeting. CPE confirmed: "The results of these polls and the outcomes of the meeting will be reported back to the sector afterwards. They said that the survey "will be used to feed into our ongoing work to press for an uplift to core funding by enhancing our evidence base of what pharmacy owners are experiencing."

Dr Gokhale who is the founder secretary of the Heart Failure Society, India, has organised national meeting of the society on 19th & 20th April, 2014 at Hotel Manasarovar, Chiraan Fort Club, Begumpet, Hyderabad.

Does your disability affect your ability to earn enough to meet your monthly expenditures? Getting benefits from department of social security is not sufficient to meet your living.

Workforce issues, staff retention and capacity continues to be a big concern for the Local Pharmaceutical Committee as it discussed the topics at a recent meeting with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC). The meeting, attended by delegates from 66 LPCs, focused on the current challenges faced by community pharmacies as well as the planning for the next year. Around 64 per cent of delegates said workforce was the top challenge faced by pharmacy contractors, and suggested reducing the migration of pharmacists to Primary Care Networks (PCNs). Other suggestions included - "improving the development opportunities available for pharmacists and their teams, and rebranding the profession to make community pharmacy a more attractive route for young graduates." On the development of Integrated Care Systems (ICS), the majority of respondents were positive about their LPC's engagement in the new setting.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) today decided to convene a new group, involving all the key stakeholders, focused on assurance of practice post-registration. The decision in today's (9 December) council meeting follows the recommendation of a working group chaired by council member and pharmacist Aamer Safdar on the role of the regulator in post-registration education and training. The new group will be tasked with articulating a set of guiding principles where patient safety is the overarching priority, after carrying out a horizon scanning exercise to pull together an understanding of the system wide approach currently in place. The working group noted that the wider approach, in relation to regulation of post-registration practice and not simply education and training, may require the GPhC reviewing and developing its own control measures, and involving patients and the public in the next stages of work. Reviewing the work on online pharmacy services, the council meeting supported the regulator's plans to continue to require pharmacy websites to be arranged so that a person cannot choose a prescription only medicine and its quantity before there has been an appropriate consultation with a prescriber.