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A pharmacy in Derby is to reopen a year after its closure sparked more than 600 worried residents to sign a petition demanding it stayed open. An old LloydsPharmacy store on Main Drive in Chaddesden is to be the new home for Vision Pharmacy which currently has a branch at nearby Nottingham Road. Vision Pharmacy, which has been based in Chaddesden for nine years, is to move to Main Drive from the beginning of December. It means that Chaddesden will once again have a pharmacy right next to The Park Medical Practice - one of the main GP surgeries in the area - making it ideal for patients as they will simply have to just visit next door to collect prescriptions and medicines. Huge banner signs can be seen on both the existing Vision Pharmacy store and its new Main Drive premises saying the move will take place from December 1.

With so much hype about DNA testing, people are more than interested in buying a home dna test kit and finding out about their ancestry. The truth about DNA testing is that they reveal more than one's ancestral background. Primarily, DNA testing was used to detect criminals or prove the innocence of someone awaiting capital punishment. Today, things have changed, and DNA-related things are no more revolving around criminal justice alone. Genetic science can reveal the following amazing things: FIND OUT YOUR FAMILY TREE DNA testing has helped people map their family tree and find out details about who their forefathers were and which regions of the world they were from. Believe us or not, but it is the right time to go for it now if you have never performed a DNA test before! Just choose the right DNA testing kit to connect with the previously unknown branches of your family. DNA testing has increased in popularity as people live a more conscientious life. Today, everyone is looking for answers regarding their genetic ethnicity and how they can live a happier and healthier life.

Choosing to participate in the medical field is a wonderful opportunity. But perhaps you'd rather branch off a little bit from the norm and pick a slightly different career. If that's what you're hoping to achieve, then becoming a pharmacist may just be the right choice for you. Here's what you need to know before becoming a pharmacist and how you can easily pay for your degree. WHAT DOES A PHARMACIST DO? Honestly, it's surprising to think how many people underestimate the pharmacy profession. Some genuinely think that they're just people who give you medicine over the counter. And while this is certainly one of their duties, a pharmacist is so much more than that. Believe it or not, pharmacists are trained medical professionals.

A married couple who are investing in a pharmacy for the first time have bought Paydens branch in Peterborough for an undisclosed price. A standard hour community pharmacy with a substantial home delivery service, West Town Pharmacy is located on the outskirts of the city centre and sits on a predominantly residential street, within half a mile of three GP surgeries. The pharmacy has been operating from a sizeable premises with a large, open plan sales area and has excellent potential to improve its over-the-counter sales, in addition to its strong travel vaccine customer base. West Town Pharmacy was purchased by Paydens in 2016 as part of a group acquisition and was brought to market because the company realised that geographically it "did not fit" with the group's, mainly Kent-based, portfolio.

Jhoots Group, a West Midlands based independent community pharmacy chain, has unveiled plans to expand its digital services after securing a funding worth £8.23m from HSBC bank. The new money will allow the groups branches to offer a digital platform for customers to request prescriptions online, enabling the implementation of a hub and spoke dispensing system to automate prescription deliveries. The innovation aims to reduce the burden of manual processes on pharmacists, allowing staff to use their time efficiently and support the NHS by offering vaccines and minor ailment medicine services. San Jhooty, chief operating officer at Jhoots Group, said: "When faced with the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic, primary and community services came together to support the community and each other.

The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has begun conciliation with 86 pharmacy companies to safeguard the interests of former LloydsPharmacy pharmacists. The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), a government agency, serves as a mediator between companies and employees to resolve disputes. If the ongoing mediation prove unsuccessful, individual employees retain the option to file claims in the employment tribunal, the PDA has said. The ongoing dispute centres around employers potentially failing to conduct the required consultation under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) with employees and their representatives during employee transfers, the PDA said. The TUPE legislation, known for its complexity and technical nature, applies when a section of the company, like a pharmacy sold as an asset using standard disposal, undergoes a transfer. According to NHS England's recent pharmaceutical list, LloydsPharmacy has either sold or shuttered 461 branches since September 2022. According to NHSE data, as of June 30, the pharmacy chain operates approximately 512 pharmacies in England. This positions it as the third-largest chain after Boots UK and Well Pharmacy.

Several medium-sized pharmacy chains and multiples in Scotland are increasing in size by purchasing numerous LloydsPharmacy sites that were closed last month. The Pharmacists Defence Association (PDA) Regional Committees met to dwell on the issues faced by the community pharmacists across the UK. The PDA's Scottish regional committee highlighted the impact of Lloyds Pharmacy's closure in their third committee meeting of 2023. It said: "Davidsons who have purchased various businesses in Tayside. Rowlands has purchased 30 branches across central Scotland and the PDA has been in touch with members affected. These members will be supported to ensure that they are properly subject to a TUPE transfer (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) as they should be when a business changes ownership." Most discussion amongst the Scottish Regional Committee members was around community pharmacy. Reports suggest that negotiations between the Scottish government and the pharmacy owners' body, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) have broken down. As the independent voice of the frontline employed and locum pharmacists that deliver the contract, the PDA wants to see an agreement found for the benefit of patients, taxpayers, and health professionals.

The Pharmaceutical Defence Association (PDA) has urged health ministers of the UK to take a strict and necessary action against the unnecessary closures of pharmacy. Concerned over the rising number of pharmacy closures, PDA has written an open letter to health secretary Steve Barclay; Robin Swann, health minister for Northern Ireland; Eluned Morgan, minister of health and social services for Wales; and Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary. In its letter, PDA said: "The minister of health must now ensure the regulation of poor business behaviours and be prepared to take over rogue pharmacies, however large their corporate owner may be. If patients' access to NHS services is to be protected from the consequences of avoidable full or part-day pharmacy closures." The association believes it is only a matter of time before serious harm to patients' health will be caused by the decisions of mainly large chains of pharmacies to close some of their branches for all or part of a day, instead of engaging an available pharmacist to cover their agreed opening hours. "While a small number of unforeseen closures have always occurred from time to time in pharmacies for genuine reasons, the indiscriminate scale at which closures have now become commonplace seems to have evolved over the last 20 months."

A pharmacy assistant has been jailed for three years and seven months for stealing £330,000 worth of diabetes-testing kits from his workplace. Abdul Nargoliya stole the products while working as a pharmacy assistant at a Lloydspharmacy counter inside a Sainsbury's supermarket in Fosse Park, Leicester where we was employed since 2012. The 30-year-old from Woodboy Street in Leicester was sentenced on Friday (May 26) after pleading guilty at Leicester Crown Court "to theft by an employee and concealing, transferring, converting criminal property". According to police an internal investigation launched at the pharmacy branch in July 2018 revealed that more than 22,000 test kits had been ordered since January 2017. Leicester Police said they identified Nargoliya as a suspect due to the time of the orders being placed matching up to his shift patterns. They arrested him in July 2018. Orders for the products were placed by telephone and CCTV footage showed Nargoliya handling them. It was noticed that during his shifts, the defendant would move the deliveries into a private consultation room and later leave with full carrier bags.

Numark Pharmacy is hosting an event today (December 4) to mark the takeover of one of the former Lloyds Pharmacy stores in Cumnock, Scotland. It has renamed the acquired pharmacy on Tanyard as Rowlands Pharmacy Cumnock HC, which will be reopened to the community on Monday. Rowlands Pharmacy Cumnock HC, which is the latest to reopen in Scotland, will be run by Pharmacy manager Meghan Mcewan, supported by a team of colleagues from the local community. At the new branch, the team will oversee prescription dispensary, vaccination services, over-the-counter medications, emergency contraception, and medication review.

Speaking at the SIGMA Conference 2023, Dr Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), spoke about the increasing number of prescriptions, lack of funding and other existing challenges. Leyla explained how the pharmacy sector is facing immense challenges which are disrupting the delivery of services as well as impacting its growth. She further spoke about the hub and spoke model, and how it is unable to solve the issues. "Community pharmacies are clogged with prescription volume, and this is preventing them from supporting the wider NHS as well as offering services," she said. She said that the prescription volumes have rocketed, while the number of pharmacies in England has declined from 11, 522 in the year 2021-22 to 11, 414 in 2022-23. When it comes to Company Chemists' Association (CCA) pharmacies, there has been a loss of 1055 branches from 2022 to 2023.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has backed pharmacists to play a greater clinical role in the health and well-being of the nation, describing them as "valuable and trusted" members of the community. Pharmacists have faced a difficult year with 222 community pharmacies closing in just the first six months. Boots alone will be closing 300 branches over the next 12 months. Sunak, however, insisted that his government knows the "hard work of pharmacy teams", and that he wants to "enable them to do more to support the NHS." Speaking at the annual Sigma Conference in London on Sunday (5 November), the prime minister reiterated that community pharmacy is in line for a much-needed boost in funding. "Earlier this year, the government announced plans for further investment of up to £645 million over the next few years to support the Pharmacy First service for patients," Sunak said in a letter read out at the conference by Lord Dolar Popat. "This means that community pharmacies will be able to assess patients and provide some options to protect them without a GP appointment."

Margaret MacRury has stepped down from her role as superintendent director for the Rowlands Pharmacy, which has a community pharmacy network in England,Scotland and Wales with more than 450 branches. MacRury, who served the role for a decade, will step down next month to focus on the pharmacy contract developments taking place in Scotland, Rowlands said in a statement. She will start her new role in February 2022. With MacRury leaving the position, Stephen Thomas, currently her deputy, will take up the role of superintendent for Rowlands. He has been with the multiple for nearly 18 years and has worked side-by-side with MacRury for the last decade. MacRury stated: "I know Stephen will continue that commitment to protecting patients and promoting the pharmacy sector.

Rowlands pharmacy has launched a new weight management service across its UK network, challenging perceptions around weight loss and providing expert support to those in need. The launch comprises a pilot roll-out across 100 Rowlands branches to increase consideration of pharmacies for weight management-based advice. Commenting on the launch, Nigel Swift, managing director of Rowlands, said: "One of the biggest challenges facing many adults looking to address any weight concerns is knowing where and how to start. Our new weight management service is designed to help all those setting out on a new weight loss journey but also those who have struggled to find a plan that works for them." "Our pharmacy teams offer comprehensive healthcare advice and a variety of weight management products with a friendly approach that naturally puts customers at ease, and we're looking forward to welcoming all those looking to take their first step with us."

A group of 21 community pharmacies in the Midlands and Yorkshire will have a new name - Pickfords Pharmacy. The group has been created by combining three independent pharmacy businesses which traded as Mr Pickford's, McGills Pharmacy and D&R Sharp. All pharmacies in the new group will be rebranded over the coming months, with a series of launch events planned by local teams. Speaking after the unveiling of the first branch to receive new signage in Hexthorpe Doncaster, Mimi Lau, Pickfords Pharmacy's chief operating officer, said: "This is a turning point for the group, with all our pharmacies operating under one name with a consistent, contemporary brand. "Initial reaction has been fantastic and very soon the name Pickfords Pharmacy will be widely recognised for the great service we deliver to customers and patients every day." Speaking of the consolidation, Nick Yarrow, the newly appointed group chief executive officer, commented: "Since the enlarged group came together last year, we have been striving to ensure that the best elements of each business have been retained for the benefit of our customers and team members. "This is part of our journey to be more than just a pharmacy - we want to be a trusted source of healthcare services at the heart of each one of the communities we serve".

Titan PMR, a pioneer of cutting pharmacy technology has set up additional new team of 12 staff to cater for a deluge of independent pharmacists investing in new businesses. The company is utilising the opportunity that is underway as large chains look to sell off or close their community pharmacies, offering an opportunity for pharmacists looking to provide efficient dispensing and additional services. In January this year Lloyds Pharmacy, which was bought by a private equity firm in 2022, announced plans to close all its 237 branches inside Sainsbury's stores over the course of 2023. Currently, more than 5,500 of around 14,000 registered pharmacy premises across the UK are owned by corporates and supermarkets. Titan PMR - an innovative, cloud-based system which manages end-to-end pharmacy workflow - has become the preferred software platform especially amongst first time buyers who are keen to offer new services to patients. The new team at the Bristol-based company, hired to support this sector, sees its total workforce growing to more than 50 staff.

Our Totton branch has an incredibly high volume of original pack dispensing, roughly 45,000 items. As we became busier and busier in the dispensary we were finding that our pharmacists, dispensers and other technicians simply didn't have capacity to deliver the services that we needed them to. We all know there is a real emphasis right now on pharmacies doing more services and we knew we had to change the way we operate to survive. So we decided it was time to look into a sound automation solution for our medication dispensing process, one that would allow us to free up the time of the pharmacists and the rest of the team so they could better support patients. After a lot of research we invested in Centred Solutions FLOWRx Hub and InStore solutions which were installed late last year. It provides us with the whole package and has automated our entire dispensing process from picking to packing and labeling to checking. Our situation was quite unique as we bought the system initially for our existing high-volume pharmacy in Totton so the hub and the spoke are actually on the same site. People wouldn't usually look at a hub and spoke solution for that kind of set up but it has allowed us to significantly free up time in store for more services. What it has also done is allow us to look at other opportunities to grow and expand. The pharmacy landscape is changing and there are lots of opportunities coming up. We have found that having your technology and the right infrastructure in place to support your existing footprint before you expand is the ideal way to grow in a safe and controlled way. We never thought that five years ago we would buy another pharmacy, yet we have already bought one and are now in the process of buying two more. I'm not worried about the increase in volume this expansion will bring because I know our technology is going to be able to support it. The pharmacies we are buying are struggling but having our solution already in place m

The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) has changed its name to the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA). AIMp, now IPA, stated that rebranding was prompted by the demand from independent community pharmacists for an association that properly represents their interests. The membership of the Independent Pharmacies Association will not be restricted to pharmacy owners with multiple branches, as was the case with AIMp, but will be open to all independents, it announced today (Tuesday). It believes that the switch will "provide a clearer identity and afford a strong voice to the thousands of independent pharmacies in England and Wales." Furthermore, the IPA noted that it will not primarily function as an insurance organisation with membership attached, but it will be "fighting for and representing its members across all fronts."

The General Pharmaceutical Council's Investigating Committee took decisive action on March 25, 2024, by issuing a warning to Dilsha Kiran Shah, registration number: 2049787, for her conduct as Superintendent Pharmacist of Jhoots Healthcare Ltd. Miss Shah's failure to uphold the Medicines Act 1968, specifically in ensuring the proper management of medicinal products, triggered this warning. The Act mandates supervision in "keeping, preparing, and dispensing medicinal products other than those on a general sale list." Moreover, pharmacies are inspected on five principles - Governance, Staff, Premises, Services including medicines management, and Equipment and facilities to meet the right standards. The alarm was initially raised in August 2021 when a Jhoots Healthcare Ltd pharmacy branch under Miss Shah's supervision operated without a responsible pharmacist. Despite explicit instructions, pharmacy staff were allegedly instructed to proceed without proper supervision, raising grave concerns regarding patient safety.

Superdrug is bolstering its physical presence by launching 25 new stores this year as it celebrates its 60th year on the British high street. Additionally, the health and beauty retailer has announced plans to extend seven of its existing branches and refit another 60 throughout 2024. However, the retailer has confirmed the locations for only four upcoming stores - Wheatley Centre Shopping Parkin Doncaster, St David's Centre in Cardiff, Bluewater Shopping Centre and Westfield Stratford City. As reported by Mirror, the Donacaster site is expected to open by the end of this month, followed by the relocation of its existing Cardiff store to a new 11,3000 sq. ft space shortly thereafter. Superdrug is also shifting its Westfield Stratford City store, doubling its size to 9,892 sq. ft. Likely to be opened in the summer, it will be one of the retailer's biggest stores.