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The National Pharmacy Association has announced the theme for this year's 'Ask Your Pharmacist Week' campaign - 'Meet Your Local Pharmacy Team'. The campaign, scheduled for October 30 to November 6, seeks to enhance awareness of pharmacy services and initiate dialogues with local stakeholders, highlighting the role and advantages of community pharmacy, the NPA said in a statement. NPA has organised an array of promotional activities, spanning window displays, social media engagements, partnerships with patient groups, radio and TV interviews, and visits to pharmacies by local dignitaries and politicians during the week. "AYP Week 2023 will acquaint individuals with the pharmacist's skill set and the broader community pharmacy workforce, showcasing their collaborative efforts in delivering a secure and efficient service, encompassing NHS clinical care," said Stephen Fishwick, NPA's Head of Communications. "As always, the NPA will furnish campaign resources for our members and other participants interested in engaging with this enduring initiative."

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Pharmacy Business will be hosting their annual awards event in the pharmacy calendar with a glittering ceremony to celebrate the very best of community pharmacy. The 23rd edition of the Pharmacy Business Awards will be on Wednesday 4 October 2023 in central London. The awards attract the biggest names in pharmacy, with heads of pharmacy organisations, CEOs of leading manufacturers and wholesalers, health officials and government ministers in attendance. We look forward to bringing together the shining lights of community pharmacy, who show the nation the unique services they continue to provide. REASONS TO ATTEND Understand what the ambitions of the NHS and PSNC are for the future of community pharmacy Understand why its important to develop a wider range of health services Learn how others are achieving this and what the benefits can be Learn what the benefits of embracing technological innovations are Hear what others are doing and what the benefits are to their business Network with and learn from your peers in community pharmacy WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Pharmacy owners Pharmacy managers Other pharmacy stakeholders Exciting news! Pharmacy Business Awards 2023 are just around the corner!

The Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has published a 'pharmacy paradox paper' which outlines how community pharmacy can match the ambition amidst the workforce crisis. The sector is experiencing a workforce crisis, exacerbated by NHS recruitment of community pharmacists into primary care networks. Pharmacies are also facing a significant increase in demand on services. CCA said, "A stretched and reduced pharmacy workforce is having to deliver more and more. This is unsustainable." "Unless the tension between ambition and capacity is addressed, there is a risk that community pharmacies will not only not meet their potential, but the existing offer could be compromised." Therefore, the association has set out solutions to resolve the current paradox between ambition and reality.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has emphasised that the community pharmacy sector must be involved right from the start in all local planning meetings pertaining to the roll-out of vaccine services in potential future pandemics. This includes crucial discussions regarding supply logistics and resource allocation, lawyers representing the NPA told COVID-19 public inquiry hearing. Chaired by Baroness Heather Hallett, the independent public inquiry is examining the UK's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and lessons for the future. The NPA has been designated as a 'core participant' in Module 4 (vaccines) of the inquiry, which considers various issues related to vaccine development and rollout, as well as Module 3 (healthcare). During the hearing on September 13, NPA lawyers outlined three key areas the association says must be improved in future pandemic vaccination programs, including properly utilising existing primary care expertise, better planning and engagement, and improved access to information for community pharmacists.

RPS Scotland has partnered with charity organisation Marie Curie for an exhibition at the Scottish Parliament this week to highlight Daffodil Standards and the crucial contribution of community pharmacies to palliative and end-of-life care. The exhibition is being sponsored by Jeremy Balfour MSP. Community pharmacies offer vital assistance by providing guidance on medication adjustments and side effects, RPS Scotland said in a statement. They are easily accessible without the need for an appointment, providing essential support and reassurance to families in times of need. The Daffodil Standards, which is jointly developed by RPS and Marie Curie, drive continuous improvement in end-of-life and bereavement support within community pharmacies, benefiting terminally ill patients, their families, and caregivers. These standards align with the RCGP/Marie Curie guidelines for general practice introduced in 2019. Since its May launch, over 450 pharmacies throughout Great Britain, including more than 30 in Scotland, have implemented these principles, the statement said.

Three pharmacy bodies have called on the government to allow pharmacy students access to the NHS learning support fund (LSF) currently available to students from other healthcare professions. Calling it "unjust", the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), British Pharmaceutical Students' Association (BPSA), and Pharmacy Schools Council (PSC) have voiced their disappointment over continual exclusion of pharmacy students on clinical placements and asked that pharmacy students are given equal access to the LSF. The Department of Health and Social Care recently announced a 50 percent increase in travel and accommodation allowances for students in nursing, midwifery, allied health professions, medical, and dental courses. However, this initiative notably excluded pharmacy students.

Six pharmacists based in Scotland were acknowledged by the profession this week during a celebratory event held at the home of Scottish pharmacy, the RPS building on Melville Street, Edinburgh. Four pharmacists have been officially conferred with Fellowships of RPS for their significant contributions to the practice of pharmacy. The recipients are: Richard Lowrie Lynn Morrison Deborah Steven Audrey Thompson Two pharmacists, Katherine Davidson and Emily Kennedy, have attained accreditation as consultant pharmacists. This designation is granted in recognition of their demonstrated expertise at a senior level, spanning clinical practice, leadership, research, and education, RPS said in a statement.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has reminded Community pharmacy contractors to ensure that the correct flu vaccines are being used for each patient cohort. The pharmacies have also been asked to ensure that they recorded accurately in the patient's clinical record for the NHS Flu Vaccination Service. The move was followed by PSNC after the cases where the standard egg-cultured quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVe) was administered in the 65 years and over patient cohort. PSNC said: "On investigation, it appears that a number of these errors are due to data input errors; however, it is important to be careful when selecting a flu vaccine for this patient cohort as there is no provision for the use of the QIVe vaccine in patients aged 65 years and over in the NHS Flu Vaccination Service." The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised it is not an effective intervention for patients aged 65 years and over.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised booster vaccination to be offered this autumn (2023) for those at higher risk of severe Covid-19 in its interim advice to government on the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination programme for 2023. The JCVI also advised that for a smaller group of people, such as those who are older and those who are immunosuppressed, an extra booster vaccine dose in the spring should also be planned for. Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of Covid-19 vaccination on the JCVI, said: "The Covid-19 vaccination programme continues to reduce severe disease across the population, while helping to protect the NHS. That is why we have advised planning for further booster vaccines for persons at higher risk of serious illness through an autumn booster programme later this year. We will very shortly also provide final advice on a spring booster programme for those at greatest risk."

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.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2023 to make case against the 'unprecedented financial and operational challenges' faced by the community pharmacies in England. The Committee has urged those working in or owns a community pharmacy to 'take part' in the survey. "The survey results will be critical to help us to show Government and the NHS how difficult things now are for pharmacies, and to persuade them to take action. We will be using the results in our negotiations, in our conversations with MPs, Ministers and in national media work as part of the joint #saveourpharmacies campaign," said PSNC. The Pharmacy Pressures Survey is once again comprised of two surveys to give insight into both financial and operational pressures. Together with the other national pharmacy organisations PSNC are working both to show policy makers the severity of the problems and to lobby for Government and NHS action to ease the pressures.

The health secretary, Steve Barclay was asked over the delay of 'Pharmacy First' model in England that was proposed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) last year, at the Health Committee evidence session held on Tuesday (31 January). Taiwo Owatemi MP (Chair of the Pharmacy APPG) asked whether he was adhering to his statutory responsibility to ensure continued access to medicines and cited the CCA's closures in areas of deprivation research. Barclay replied that the government is 'investing more'. He said, "We put an extra 100 million on top of the 2.6 billion a year we commit to community pharmacy to expand the range of clinical services. We've got over 2 million patients that have been referred to community pharmacy from NHS." He further added: "One of the issues I'm very keen on is to explore what more we can do in pharmacy not least given the pressures on GP and the opportunity to look at what it is currently people go to GPS for where potentially the risk to do more at the pharmacy and we're already doing that."

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is seeking views of pharmacists to help shape the future of pharmacy practice in England over the next decade. The RPS's project with The King's Fund, transforming pharmacy practice, aims to develop a vision for the role of pharmacists and pharmacy teams working across systems, providing patient care and NHS services. It's due to be published at the end of the year. "From 15 August to 30 September we are asking people to respond to our consultation on six key themes," the RPS said. "We'll also be holding face-to-face and virtual events in September to hear your views." The King's Fund has completed a literature review which has helped inform the initial six themes which will be the focus of the consultation, all of which can be downloaded and read before responding.

Supplements became hugely popular in the last decade to treat deficiencies and boost various body functions. People who work out use supplements to promote muscle growth and gain energy during exercise. If you are suffering from hormone or vitamin deficiency, you can get off-the-shelf supplements to get your daily intake of these vitamins. However, there have been cases where some people became too reliant on supplements and started taking more than the required dose. Although most of them are made from natural ingredients, it's not particularly safe to use any supplement before understanding what it is and if you actually need it. Here are a few things you need to know before taking supplements or pill products. SUPPLEMENTS DON'T REPLACE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE Taking supplements every day doesn't mean you are leading a healthy lifestyle. Supplements support this lifestyle but they're not the basis of being healthy. If someone doesn't exercise, eats junk food all the time, and smokes heavily, taking supplements will not make them live or feel better. It all starts with leading a healthy lifestyle, and if you want to boost body function or treat a deficiency, then supplements will have the desired effect. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT There is no magic solution that works for everyone on the planet. What worked for your friend may not necessarily work for you. Popping a pill or drinking a supplement shake won't improve your performance unless you are taking the right supplement for what you need to be targeted. For instance, vitamin B12 comes from meat, fish, and dairy foods, so vegans should look for a supplement that will provide them with this vitamin.

In its response to NHS England's consultation on 'the future of vaccination services', the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has suggested that a wider range of NHS vaccinations being available from community pharmacies could support the achievement of increased vaccination levels. PSNC said: "Any additional services that contractors could provide can only be considered with additional remuneration above the current global sum in the community pharmacy contractual framework to ensure that the services are adequately resourced." Alastair Buxton, director of NHS Services at PSNC, said: "We've always known, and the evidence supports this, that community pharmacies are one of the most popular and accessible places for people to receive a range of vaccinations. "The NHS was slow to take advantage of this at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, so we welcome this consultation from them to bring together a wide range of views on the topic. "In the longer-term, if the right funding and support is in place, many pharmacies could help deliver a much wider range of NHS vaccination programmes - giving the public the convenience and service that they want, and taking pressure off our general practice colleagues. It makes perfect sense, and we look forward to the NHS response to this consultation."

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.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has welcomed the government's defeat in the House of Lords on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill. It believes that the proposed Bill, if enacted, would allow the government to dictate minimum levels of service during times of industrial action, enabling employers to name specific employees that they require in work. Those employees could then face losing their jobs if they failed to turn up to work on that day. Trade unions could also be fined if they did not force those named individuals to go to work. PDA director, Paul Day said, "This Bill should be of real concern to pharmacists and other health professionals. The idea of their employer being able to effectively conscript them to work or face the sack does not feel like a positive employment relations environment." The House of Lords has voted for key amendments to the Bill to prevent unions from being required to force workers to comply. This also prevents workers from being forced to work or face the sack and allows for greater consultation and Parliamentary scrutiny on the proposals which the Westminster government is trying to implement. The House of Commons will now be required to vote on the amendments over the next few weeks. Whilst the House of Lords amendments are likely to be defeated, it shows the degree of opposition there is to this Bill.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC)'s 2022 Pharmacy Advice Audit revealed that more than 1.2 million consultations a week - or 65 million a year - are now being carried out by community pharmacy teams in England. This is an increase from 2021, when the audit results suggested that in total pharmacies were providing 58 million consultations per year. PSNC has published the findings of the audit of over 4,000 community pharmacies carried out earlier this year. During the audit, 82,872 informal patient consultations were recorded, with the average pharmacy completing 19 consultations per day. This suggests that more than 1.2 million informal consultations are taking place in community pharmacies in England every week. The audit helped to quantify the number of informal referrals being made to pharmacies by GPs and NHS 111, with 7,774 informal patient referrals into pharmacy coming from these routes; grossed up to a national level that means 117,000 cases per week. These are all referrals that could and should have been made by the NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS).

LloydsPharmacy has offered three per cent increase in base pay backdated to 1 April for its store pharmacists, the union of Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDAU) who represented them has announced. "We are pleased to announce that following a consultation of its members, the PDAU has informed the company that agreement can be reached on the company's latest offer, made in July 2022," said the PDAU. The offer made by the company also includes introduction of an overtime rate of 1.5 times basic pay for each hour worked after contracted hours. This will run for a trial period and be reviewed as part of the next pay round. "All pharmacists will receive an initial £1,000 payment under the proposed LTIP scheme, paid in April 2024. This will be to all in the bargaining unit and will not be dependent on meeting any criteria such as targets," said PDAU.