His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is to host a reception at St James's Palace in early May to celebrate exemplary work of community pharmacist during
the Coronavirus pandemic.
Up to 200 community pharmacists have been invited by Prince Charles to the event organised to "celebrate community pharmacists", which commences at 5:30pm on
Wednesday, May 4 at the London residence of the Prince of Wales.
The invitation comes in less than six months after Prince Charles praised community pharmacists for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic in a video message sent to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA)'s centenary dinner at Apothecaries' Hall in central London in November last year.
He said throughout the pandemic pharmacy teams' "commitment to patient care has never wavered, despite the many enormous pressures you have faced.
"During this pandemic period, we have learned, as never before, that pharmacies are one of those vital places where science and society meet. Crucially, they are about people and places, not just pills."
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has awarded Professor Abdul Basit with the RPS Harrison Memorial Medal for an outstanding contribution to advancing
pharmaceutical science.
Professor Basit graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Pharmacy from the University of Bath, and received his PhD from The School of Pharmacy, University
of London.
Currently in position as Professor of Pharmaceutics at the UCL School of Pharmacy, he is internationally recognised for leading in the field of drug delivery,
microbiome medicines, three-dimensional printing of pharmaceuticals and digital health. He has also founded three start-up companies.
Professor Basit has an impressive track record of publications, and a lifetime grant and investment income of over £100million pounds. His research has led to
a series of transformative drug delivery systems, translated into the design of new technologies and improved therapies, many of which have been commercialised
and launched worldwide including a new treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. To date, more than a million patients have benefited from inventions created and
developed in the Basit Research Group.
A recent report by the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has revealed a significant disparity in patient engagement with the Pharmacy First service across
the UK.
In response, Santosh Sahu, Founder and CEO at Charac, has emphasised the need for technological reform to address "the interoperability gap between pharmacists
and GPs".
Sahu identified the lack of GP referrals for Pharmacy First consultations as a key issue, attributing it to inadequate IT infrastructure.
He urged the sector to "implement technological reforms to enhance interoperability between pharmacists and GPs, enabling them to share patient records, identify
care pathways, and address health needs more effectively".
The Labour Party's election manifesto, unveiled with a focus on bolstering community pharmacy services and enhancing localised healthcare, has sparked
responses from key pharmacy bodies across England.
A standout pledge within the manifesto is the commitment to establish a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service, aimed at granting more pharmacists independent
prescribing rights.
This initiative is viewed as pivotal in recognising the clinical capabilities of pharmacists and their potential to alleviate pressures within primary care.
Additionally, Labour's plan advocates for broader healthcare access improvements, including enabling opticians to directly refer patients to specialist services
and expanding self-referral options where suitable.
The manifesto also introduces proposals to trial Neighbourhood Health Centres, designed to consolidate various healthcare services under one roof, such as family
doctors, district nurses, and mental health specialists.
Dr Bharat Shah CBE regrets that neither community pharmacists nor pharmaceutical wholesalers in the UK have any control over how Category M reimbursement prices in Part VIII A of the Drug Tariff are determined.
The co-founder and chief executive of Sigma Pharmaceuticals was speaking at a conference organised by Avicenna in West London on Sunday (March 6).
Introduced into the Drug Tariff in April 2005, Category M is used to set the reimbursement prices of over 500 drugs.
The Department of Health and Social Care makes the final decision on the amount of reimbursement (cost of drugs and appliances supplied against an NHS prescription
form) and remuneration (fees paid as part of the NHS community pharmacy contract for the provision of a service).
The Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has responded positively to the Labour Party's manifesto, which outlines plans to bolster community pharmacy
services and shift the NHS towards a more localized, prevention-focused model.
Key proposals include the creation of a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service and the enhancement of care delivery in local communities.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA, expressed strong support for these initiatives and said:
"We welcome the Labour Party Manifesto's clear focus on moving to a 'Neighbourhood Health Service', prevention, and the return of the 'family doctor'."
"Harnessing community pharmacy is crucial to delivering each of these," Harrison added.
As part of its inclusion and diversity strategy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched a campaign to challenge barriers to working in pharmacy for those with disabilities.
A profession-wide survey on the subject conducted by the RPS, identified disability as the biggest barrier to working in pharmacy, highlighting the area of work to support pharmacists.
The campaign will focus on reducing barriers to enter the profession, developing more accessible working environments and encouraging employers to collect data on disability in the workplace.
The campaign, based on inputs from the RPS Ability Group volunteers with visible and non-visible disabilities, will run until the end of March.
Following recommendation of the RPS Ability Group, RPS has written to the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) the Higher Education Occupational Practitioners (HEOPS) to update the guidance on standards of medical fitness for pharmacy students.
Talk of hub and spoke models has been rumbling on for as long as I can remember. The topic has once again hit the headlines as the government announced a
fresh consultation for its proposed changes, calling on all interested parties to submit their views by 8th June.
The argument for hub and spoke is to allow independents to have the same level playing field as the larger groups who have been operating this model for some time.
The government also sees significant efficiency gains in centralisation, arguing this will free pharmacists time away from dispensing to focus on clinical services.
The latest consultation advocates two models being created. In the first model, the dispensed medication is sent back to the spoke. In the second model, the completed
medication can be sent out directly to the patient.
The latter is a new concept which could open up new opportunities in how services are delivered. Pharmacies could effectively outsource the entire dispensing and
delivery to housebound patients and care homes allowing pharmacies to take on new business without having to worry about logistics and geography.
WAGMI or 'we are all gonna make it' is an established abbreviation in the crypto world, and pharmacists can learn from it. To all the dreamers, the visionaries,
the go-getters, the futurists - we need you all.
In the past few months, since the rebranding of Facebook into Meta, the word 'Metaverse' has become exponentially popular and there is a huge opportunity for
pharmacists to get involved.
In his popular podcast, Aragorn Meulendijks, the chief marketing officer at Your Open Metaverse - YOM, gave a crystal-clear vision on the unique and valuable possibility of a metaverse pharmacy or metapharmacy.
Imagine it is 2030, and there are over a billion users of Virtual Reality headsets. You have recently been hired as the new metaverse pharmacist (metapharmacist) at the global metaverse pharmacy (metapharmacy) "YOMRx".
Your patient comes to your metapharmacy with their digital twin (different to digital avatar)where you are able to provide them with medical advice (metaconsultation).
Thorrun Govind, a former chair of the English Pharmacy Board of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, has joined Brabners' regulatory & professional conduct team.
With nearly a decade of experience as a GPhC-registered pharmacist, Govind will provide guidance on regulatory and professional conduct issues.
Govind's expertise extends to healthcare advisory and disputes involving NHS Trusts and social care organisations.
She has been recognised as the 'Young Pharmacist of the Year' by Pharmacy Business Magazine and is a frequent commentator on public health and healthcare law
for major television networks.
Her appointment underscores Brabners' commitment to offering top-tier legal services to the healthcare industry.
A Orthodontic treatment should be carried out by qualified professionals round this time five years ago there was a surge in the reporting of people
performing DIY orthodontics on themselves in their own homes.
Mainstream media reported that video tutorials had emerged online with instructions on using small elastic bands to adjust teeth positions.
What followed were some horrendous pictures of irreparable damage to people's teeth and gums.
The trend escalated to a point where in 2017, the American Dental Association revealed that 13 per cent of patients had tried some kind of DIY teeth straightening
appliance that had backfired.
Now, we are seeing the situation further evolve, with private companies offering DIY orthodontic treatment under the term 'direct-to-consumer' orthodontics.
The Oral Health Foundation is becoming increasingly concerned with the rise of the DIY orthodontic market and the potential harmful consequences it could have for
millions of consumers.
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.
With a trusted army of loyal fans on social media, the Nordic liquid iron supplement, BlueIron, is set for a refreshed look and big ambitions under a new distribution agreement.
Lanes Health, the family-owned business known for its passion and expertise in manufacturing and supplying natural and herbal remedies, has acquired the distribution rights for the Finnish brand.
As part of the deal, Lanes Health has been working to refresh the packaging and website, as well as developing a robust marketing campaign involving advertising,
digital, social media, PR and influencer relations.
A liquid iron supplement formulated with Nordic blueberries, BlueIron provides iron which is highly bioavailable and fast working. With the added benefit of a patented micro-encapsulated form of iron, it is easily absorbed and gentle on the stomach.
Iron is an essential mineral used by our bodies for many health benefits, it is important for making red blood cells, transporting oxygen around the body, supporting energy metabolism, maintaining cognitive function and reducing tiredness and fatigue.
Trainee pharmacists at Boots in England and Northern Ireland will get a pay increase from 1st August.
The new pay rates agreed between the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) Union and Boots was announced on Tuesday (4 July).
The joint statement released by Boots and PDA Union said: "Following discussions, we are pleased to announce that there will be a pay increase for Trainee
Pharmacists, in England and Northern Ireland, commencing in role this summer."
Trainee Pharmacists working in Boots Pharmacies in Wales are employed directly by the NHS and are therefore outside the scope of the pay negotiations between
Boots and the PDA Union.
Funding for each Boots Trainee Pharmacist in Scotland is at a higher level and Boots continues to pass on the fully funded amount as salary to those team members
In the competitive landscape of healthcare, strategic alliances can be a game-changer. Dr. Dupe, a General Practitioner at Christchurch Clinics, and Baba, a
Pharmacist at Christchurch Pharmacy, married for 24-years cultivate their synergy through mental wellbeing walks.
Their recent 24 kilometres fundraising walk to support a local hospice - Farleigh Hospice, is one of such.
Having met Dupe first in 1994, first as interns at a teaching hospital, now married, the couple offer a comprehensive range of services, including pharmacy, private
clinics, homecare services as proprietors of Christchurch Health-centre in Braintree.
gp; pharmacist; mental wellbeing walks, healthcare
Dupe and Baba in their clinic
Dr. Dupe and Pharmacist Baba Akomolafe in their clinic, demonstrating their synergy and dedication to patient care.
United by faith, a love for healthcare, and a shared commitment to service the community, their 'Mental Wealth Management' as they call it comprises of daily
morning walks covering a distance of six kilometres.
AstraZeneca said its antibody cocktail against Covid-19 would - unlike its vaccine - be priced commercially as it negotiates supply contracts with governments around the globe.
"We are looking at a commercial pricing strategy. That is part of our negotiations with governments," Iskra Reic, Astra's executive vice president for vaccines and immune therapies, said in a media call on Thursday.
She added that the group's main objective was to make the shot affordable and broadly available.
The NHS Confederation has urged the government to reconsider its 'living with Covid' plan and introduce mitigating actions that will help avoid further
critical incidents being declared at the NHS front-line.
The organisation said the high rates of Covid is having a major impact on the delivery of health services and slowing down efforts to reduce large waiting lists,
noting that the country has been in the grip of another spike in Covid cases resulting from the Omicron BA.2 variant.
With more than 20,000 patients now in hospital with Covid (or who have Covid but are in hospital for other reasons) and high staff absences, NHS is facing huge
operational challenges, harming efforts to reduce waiting times in other areas, it said.
Alliance Healthcare UK has won a 'special achievement' award for its work during the Covid-19 pandemic at the Logistics UK Awards 2021.
The pharmaceutical wholesaler and it's subsidiary, Alloga UK - a specialist provider of supply chain solutions for healthcare manufacturers - received the 'Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Response to Covid' at an event held in central London on Thursday, December 9, 2021 - beating off stiff competition from a number of high profile challengers.
Alliance Healthcare's new managing director Marie Evans said: "I am delighted that our business and team of 6,000 colleagues have been recognised at this level for our contribution to the fight against Covid-19. Our main aim over this unprecedented period is to support the NHS, pharmacy and all UK patients, and this award is true recognition for all of that hard work and dedication."
The special award category was open to an individual or organization that demonstrated an outstanding response to the pandemic in 2020 within the logistics sector and included seven other nominees including the likes of National Highways, Hermes UK and Yodel.
Hundreds of workers at pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline are set to strike over a "derisory" pay offer way below the level of British inflation, a union
said on Wednesday (April 20).
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham accused GSK of "colossal corporate greed" over an effective pay cut in real terms as Britain experiences its highest inflation
in 30 years.
GSK said it was "disappointed that the Unite union has taken the decision to strike", adding that the British group "remains committed to… a solution".
It said in a statement: "We recognise the impact inflation rates are having on people around the country and are strongly committed to supporting the skilled people
who work in GSK manufacturing."
About 500 Unite members, or around 13 per cent of GSK's UK manufacturing workforce, voted to strike, the drugs group said. GSK said it had offered a four-percent
increase in base salary plus one-off awards.
A three-year contract has been signed between NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Pharmaceutical Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's (RPS) knowledge business, to continue the supply of trusted medicines information though MedicinesComplete, to healthcare professionals in Scotland.
The renewed investment from NES demonstrates unequivocal confidence in the publisher and highlights Pharmaceutical Press' ongoing commitment to provide practical and evidence-based guidance, supporting those who prescribe, dispense, and administer medicines. Essential resources include Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference, Palliative Care formulary, Stockley's Drug Interactions and Critical Illness.
Relied on by healthcare professionals globally for use in everyday practice, clear and concise guidance through MedicinesComplete supports confident decision-making
at the point of care.