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The rising focus on the "Social" component of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is prompting UK pharmacies, particularly independent pharmacies, to take a more active role in social responsibility. Beyond just meeting regulatory requirements, pharmacies can strengthen their communities while building trust and supporting business growth by aligning their practices with social initiatives. The importance of social responsibility in ESG Research shows 77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place, while 73% of investors state that efforts to improve the environment and society contribute to their investment decisions. As customers, employees and investors increasingly expect businesses to contribute positively to society, the "Social" aspect of ESG is gaining importance. In healthcare, trust, accessibility, and community engagement are essential, giving pharmacies a unique opportunity to lead by prioritising social responsibility. By aligning with community needs and values, pharmacies can positively influence local health outcomes, while strengthening their reputation as trusted healthcare providers.

As the countdown to the next UK election begins, the King's Fund has identified three priorities to improve public health. The national action would be taken by the future government to fix the "NHS and social care" in the country. The health policy think tank said it would prioritise "improving access to out-of-hospital care", making "careers in health and social care" more attractive and tackling the biggest risk factors affecting people's health. It highlighted that workforce crisis is one of the biggest challenges faced by the National Health Service (NHS) and social care services in England while citing "years of poor planning and fragmented responsibilities" as the reason for widespread staff shortages. As per the King's Fund's data, there were more than 125,000 vacancies across the NHS workforce in England in October 2023, not including primary care vacancies such as GPs, and 152,000 vacant posts in the adult social care workforce.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak appointed Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire Steve Barclay as secretary of state for health and social care on 25 October 2022. He previously held the same role between 5 July and 6 September - after Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary. As head of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) his responsibilities will include "overall financial control and oversight of NHS delivery and performance" as well as "oversight of social care policy". Mr Barclay was succeeded by Thérèse Coffey, who thanked her "great ministerial team" at the DHSC in a Tweet, before taking up her new responsibility as environment secretary in the new cabinet. As head of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) his responsibilities will include "overall financial control and oversight of NHS delivery and performance" as well as "oversight of social care policy". Mr Barclay was succeeded by Thérèse Coffey, who thanked her "great ministerial team" at the DHSC in a Tweet, before taking up her new responsibility as environment secretary in the new cabinet.

Former pharmacy minister Steve Brine was on Wednesday (November 2) elected chair of the influential Health and Social Care Committee, the cross-party parliamentary group that scrutinises the work of the Department of Health and Social Care and its associated public bodies. The Conservative MP for Winchester won 253 out of 432 votes beating off four other contenders for the role - Stephen Hammond, Dr Caroline Johnson, Anne Marie Morris and James Morris - in a four-stage election in which MPs voted by ranking candidates in order of preference. Dr Johnson, who was Mr Brine's main challenger, bagged 148 votes in the final round. An election for a new chair of the Health and Social Care Committee was triggered following the resignation of Jeremy Hunt MP who was appointment as chancellor of the exchequer on October 14. Issuing a statement after his election, Mr Brine said: "I welcome the opportunity as chair to continue the calm, measured work of Jeremy Hunt and to examine new solutions to support the NHS to enable it to continue providing the services that we all depend upon."

International day for persons with disabilities on 3rd December - Note on schemes for the welfare of persons with disabilities and concessions available to them. The Government of India is committed for the realization of full participation, protection of rights, and equal opportunities to all including persons with disabilities. India is a country where most of the population lives in the rural areas and accessing the health and rehabilitation services has always been a challenge. In a Backgrounder issued yesterday, a brief summary of the major steps initiated by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in this direction were given. Following is the Background Note on the legislative and Institutional framework along with the major schemes of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment for the welfare of the People with Disabilities (PwDs). The Note also contains information on facilities and concessions available to PwDs under other central schemes which are being run by other Union Ministries. OFFER ON INTERNATIONAL DISABILITY DAY Wheelchair @ 4499 INR Tricycle @ 6500 INR Legislative Framework: There are four important legislations dealing on disabilities issues- The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, has laid the foundation of recognition of rights for Persons with Disabilities and has facilitated development of specific programmes for their education, rehabilitation, employment, non-discrimination and social security. The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 regulates and monitors training of rehabilitation professionals and personnel. The National Trust for the welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999, aims at enabling and empowering persons with disabilities to live independently as fully as possible in their community. Mental Health Act, 1987, address to the specific needs of persons with ment

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, has been elected unopposed as the new Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee in the new Parliament. The announcement was made by the Speaker in the House of Commons on Monday 9 September. Moran, who has been serving as an MP since June 2017, also holds the roles of Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development, as well as Science, Innovation, and Technology. Taking on her new role, Moran expressed her enthusiasm, stating, "I am delighted to be taking on the role of Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, to constructively challenge Ministers and the Department to deliver. She highlighted the urgency of tackling the growing challenges within health and social care, including long waiting lists, workforce shortages, and delays in care plans for the elderly.

Social media in the setting of a private social network for healthcare is a huge opportunity for improving the collaboration between doctors, patients and pharmaceutical companies. Pharmas don't do social media but they are world champs in sales and marketing; if you look at the balance sheet of one of the top 10 innovative pharmas, you will see that over 50% of expenses are for sales and marketing; more than R&D.

It is no secret that social networking has negative psychological effects on people. It is fun and a great way to connect to different people. However, getting addicted to it is so easy that before you know it, it takes over your entire life. It can be extremely difficult to log out of social networking sites and even if you do, chances are that you log in more than a couple of times a day. It is due to this that many people across the world suffer from psychological problems.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) have issued a joint enforcement notice about the 'illegal' advertising of Kenalog injections on digital platforms. The notice warns all organisations offering Kenalog as a 'hay fever treatment' to stop advertising it in any of their social media or website advertising. "Kenalog is a prescription-only medicine (POM), which must not be directly or indirectly advertised to the public. Kenalog is not licensed for the treatment of hay fever in the UK, although it is offered by some beauty and aesthetics clinics, under the personal responsibility of an individual prescriber, and advertised widely on social media," said MHRA. "Now, advertisers must ensure that all references to Kenalog in the text, images or emojis on social media are removed, as well as commonly-used descriptive phrases for the jab such as 'hay fever injection' or hay fever jab' or any account names, testimonials or memes by 29 August 2022." After this date, the CAP's compliance team will remove non-compliant ads using targeted software and those who continue to promote it may be referred to the MHRA for further enforcement action.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) today (19 October) issued its official response to an evaluation conducted by an independent expert panel from the Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) regarding government commitments in the pharmacy sector. The joint agreement between DHSC, NHSE, and CPE (Community Pharmacy England) under a five-year plan commitment to review the funding model, however, the current status is "continue to monitor and discuss progress". The government has claimed that the panel's rating has "not been met" and still "requires improvement". However, the funding "remains subject to affordability and consultation with the sector on the activity that can be delivered within that funding envelope".

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) has found that the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) met 17 out of 18 of its Standards of Good Regulation during 2023-24. The GPhC's performance and that of other regulators is reviewed regularly by the PSA, with the results reported to the parliament. This year's report covers the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. The PSA concluded that the GPhC has still not met Standard 15 relating to timeliness of fitness to practise (FTP) investigations. The regulator missed this standard last year too. "We note the GPhC's work to reduce the time it takes to progress cases through its FTP system and are aware of the pressure caused by another significant increase in the number of FTP referrals. However, because timeliness has deteriorated this year, we have concluded that Standard 15 is once again not met," the PSA report said. "We have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee to provide an update on the GPhC's performance, and we will continue to closely monitor the GPhC's performance in this area."

"Not possible for pharmacists to check whether prescriptions issued from overseas registered prescribers have been issued in a similarly safe and effective way," the new Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) Karin Smyth said during a recent parliamentary written response. At a recent session on Monday, July 29th, at the House of Commons, MP Cat Smith raised an important question directed at the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Smith, who represents Lancaster and Wyre, and has been an MP continually since 7 May 2015, inquired about whether the Department of Health and Social Care had conducted a comparative assessment of the UK's stance on prescribing puberty blockers for treating gender incongruence in comparison to other European countries. Responding to the questions, MP Karin Smyth emphasised on the significance of the Cass Review and described it as one of the most thorough examinations conducted across the globe on gender identity services for children and young people.

The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB), which develops information standards for health and social care records, has appointed Professor Reecha Sofat as the new Chair. She will assume the role at the end of October 2024, succeeding Professor Maureen Baker CBE, who will step down after seven years as Chair of the PRSB. A Clinical Pharmacologist, Professor Sofat has held many leadership roles across the NHS, academia and scientific societies. Professor Sofat is Breckenridge Chair of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Liverpool. She practices general internal medicine and is also an Associate Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre (DSC) which is led by Health Data Research UK (HDRUK). With a passion for data science and extensive clinical and research insights, Professor Sofat is focused on embedding research into routine health and social care. She said: "I am passionate about using the rich health data that is already collected across NHS and social care to better understand the causes and consequences of disease and improve health outcomes.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has cautioned against buying weight-loss medicines without a prescription from beauty salons, unregistered pharmacy websites or social media platforms as such products could pose "serious health risks." Consumers are reminded that the only safe way to obtain genuine weight-loss medication is through a legitimate pharmacy, including licensed online pharmacies, with a prescription from a qualified healthcare professional. To combat the illegal sale of these medicines, the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit is working closely with social media platforms, technology companies, the police and Border Force. Andy Morling, MHRA deputy director of Criminal Enforcement, highlighted the dangers of purchasing these medications from unverified sources: "At this time of year, with many of us thinking about shedding a little excess weight, we see people offering weight loss medicines for sale as a quick fix, without a healthcare professional's prescription, from beauty salons, websites and on social media. "These are not cosmetic treatments; they are powerful medicines that can only be legally and safely dispensed against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional."

It has, therefore, become very important for all types of businesses in all the sectors to leverage the technique of social media marketing to attract the millennials and genzers. This will not only increase the sales but help you build a chain of loyal customers.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has created a new NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN) to support the successful delivery of health and social care research in England. The network, which will start operating from next year, will play a critical and active role in implementing government policies. It will support in implementing the Life Sciences Vision, the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery vision, and policy for life sciences research and development. The new network would be mainly working on growing the amount of commercial clinical research as its key strategic ambition. Also, NIHR RDN will be responding to the findings of the Lord O'Shaughnessy review, which set out a clear blueprint for how the UK can return to its global leadership role.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the appointment of Michael Matheson MSP as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in Scotland. Commenting on the announcement Laura Wilson, Director of RPS Scotland, said: "I would like to congratulate Michael Matheson on being appointed to this position. NHS recovery is vitally important, and pharmacy has a huge amount to offer this agenda. "Our current priorities include enabling pharmacists to take leadership of prescribing in all care settings, tackling health inequalities and advocating for change, implementing shared patient records between healthcare professionals to provide high-quality, person centred and safe patient care, improving pharmacists' wellbeing and tackling the climate emergency by encouraging sustainable and green prescribing across Scotland.

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.

The Green Party has previewed its upcoming manifesto with a bold proposal for the National Health Service (NHS) and social care system, promising an unprecedented level of investment to restore and enhance these critical services. By 2030, the Greens aim to inject over £50 billion annually into health and social care, accompanied by an additional £20 billion capital investment to modernise healthcare infrastructure. Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay emphasised the urgency of these reforms, stating, "Our NHS is at breaking point following 14 years of underfunding." "Patients are stuck in hospital corridors, people can't see their GP or NHS dentist when they need to, and staff are severely overstretched." The manifesto highlights a comprehensive approach to revitalising the NHS, including:

Let's consider a practical case and see how private social networking tools help a busy physician improve health outcomes with diabetic patients. Diabetic patients at home can monitor sugar levels or in order to provide valuable information to the clinician both as an early warning for decompensation and to allow better decisions based on actual data.