NHS England will collaborate with "a number of system suppliers" to increase the number of trusts using electronic prescription service (EPS) over the next
few years.
Nishali Patel, clinical lead for digital medicines at NHS England, announced it during the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, held at the Excel, London, on Friday, 10 May
2024.
According to Nishali, at least half of all NHS secondary care trusts could be using EPS by 2026.
This digital service allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a patient-nominated pharmacy. It is widely used in primary care, where over 95
per cent of prescriptions are now electronically generated. NHS recently extended the service to secondary care settings.
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.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United Kingdom, affecting nearly 50,000 men yearly. Combined with the challenges faced across
healthcare during COVID-19, new figures show that prostate cancer accounts for a third of cancers not treated due to the pandemic, with 14,000 'missing patients'
believed to have not undergone treatment since April 2020. It is more urgent than ever that men are encouraged to get checked, as any set-backs in diagnosis can
reduce the pathways available, in turn affecting health outcomes.
Community pharmacy teams play a crucial role in signposting the help available for men who may be concerned about their health. Therefore, it is vital that pharmacy
teams have access to the information they need to correctly direct men to seek prostate cancer guidance. By maximising the trusted relationship between patients and their pharmacists, more can be done to identify the warning signs, helping men to get an earlier diagnosis.
Pharmaceutical Press, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society publishing arm, has announced its partnership with Datapharm Ltd.
Under the new partnership, Electronic Medicines Compendium (emc) the latest product to be added to MedicinesComplete, the online medicines information platform
from Pharmaceutical Press.
MedicinesComplete users can easily search emc information, with direct links to the trusted, clinical guidance from the British National Formulary (BNF).
"emc through MedicinesComplete will include printable, ready-to-use patient information leaflets written by manufacturers to use at the point of care, and users
will have access to an unlimited number of searches. In addition, emc will also include the full Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) document, which accompanies
all regulator approved medicines in the UK," said the RPS.
Available to all countries outside the UK, emc will be launched early next year on subscription through MedicinesComplete. UK access is available on request.
David Webb has been appointed as the new chief pharmaceutical officer (CPO) for England.
He will take over from Dr Keith Ridge who steps down next month after serving the role for sixteen year.
Webb is currently chief pharmacist and clinical director for pharmacy and medicines optimisation at Guy's and Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, London.
Sharing the news of his appointment on Twitter on Friday afternoon (January 7), he said he was "really delighted and honoured" to be named the CPO for NHS England
and that he was as the appointed Chief Pharmaceutical officer for "looking forward to working with pharmacy leaders, colleagues & teams across all sectors from February."
He also extended his gratitude to the outgoing CPO for his "outstanding contribution" who, in turn, congratulated Webb and said it was "an honour to be handing over to him".
In the same message, Dr Ridge thanked "all the great people I've worked with over the last 16 years for your support, friendship, good humour, great ideas & challenge. I wish you all well for the future."
The Leverhulme Trade Charities Trust (LTCT) has announced the launch of a new scheme to support pharmacists and their families during the back-to-school period.
Opening at 9 am on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, the 'School Essentials Grant' is designed to alleviate financial pressure for people working in community pharmacies
with young children during one of the most costly times of the year.
The scheme will see the charity provide up to £100,000 of support to pharmacists in need of financial aid.
Eligible families can apply online to receive £150 per school-age child, up to a maximum of three children per household. This grant can be used for essential
expenses such as new school uniforms, stationery, or travel passes.
The application window will remain open until September 1 or until the fund has been depleted. Hence, families are encouraged to apply as soon as they can.
The UK pharmaceutical industry experienced a substantial increase in public trust and favourability during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new poll.
This trend appears to be persisting with the study showing a generally favourable view of the sector.
The recent survey, conducted by Ipsos and commissioned by Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), represents the third instalment in a series
that began in 2021. This ongoing study targets members of the public, healthcare professionals, and parliamentarians.
The study once again underscored a favourable perception of the sector with 67 per cent of respondents recognising that the pharmaceutical industry produces safe
and effective medicines using cutting-edge technologies. Moreover, a majority agrees that it is a highly innovative field.
Seven out of 10 people also trust the sector's readiness to address future pandemics, even as media attention on pharmaceutical companies returns to pre-pandemic
levels. However, concerns arise regarding limitations in accessing new medicines due to cost pressures.
A Labour Party analysis of NHS trust figures has revealed that around 148,000 people died last year while waiting for treatment in England.
This is more than double the figure recorded in 2017/18, which stood at around 60,000 deaths. It even surpasses the mortality rate observed in 2021, during
the peak of the Covid pandemic.
The Labour Party obtained the data through a freedom of information request sent to every NHS trust in England. Out of the 169 acute and community trusts
contacted, 80 responded.
The total number of deaths reported by the respondents was 61,396. Extrapolating this figure to all trusts would suggest a total of 148,227 deaths.
A person in England has been diagnosed with a rare viral monkeypox infection thought to be linked to travel to West Africa, health authorities said at the weekend (May 7).
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement the case, in a person who had recently traveled to Nigeria, was being treated at an expert respiratory infectious disease unit at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.
"It is important to emphasise that monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the overall risk to the general public is very low," said Colin Brown, director of clinical and emerging infections at UKHSA.
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.
Trust leaders involved in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) have warned that further delays in the government scheme will lead to more patient harm,
disappointment among staff, and higher costs for taxpayers.
According to NHS Providers, delays in the government scheme that promised 40 new hospitals in England by 2030 are draining millions of pounds from scarce NHS
funds every month.
Some trusts are compelled to spend over £1 million a month from their under-pressure budgets due to spiraling cost pressures, on-hold building projects, and the
bill for having to patch up deteriorating sites.
While there has been some progress over the past year, trust leaders remain apprehensive that "uncertainty over funding and shifting timetables risks putting
their promised buildings further out of reach."
Grundon Waste Management has introduced what it claims to be the UK's first verified nationwide inhaler return and recycling initiative. NHS Trusts and
community pharmacies participating in the new scheme will have specialised recycling containers for inhalers installed to simplify public participation, Grundon
said in a statement.
Inhalers alone contribute to 4 per cent of NHS CO2 emissions, with around 73 million dispensed annually. By 2026, the health service aims to achieve a 50 per cent
reduction in carbon emissions from waste management, a target that rises to 80 percent between 2028 and 2032, as outlined in the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy.
"This scheme holds the potential to revolutionise the approach of NHS Trusts towards achieving heightened carbon savings and ultimately, net zero emissions," said
Chris Edwards, Grundon's General Manager - Technical. "Each discarded pressurised Metered Dose Inhaler (pMDI) contains highly polluting hydrofluorocarbon (HFC)
gases - a category of greenhouse gas known to be over a thousand times more detrimental than carbon dioxide in driving climate change."
"This initiative securely captures these gases and repurposes them for application in the refrigeration sector. By also recycling the plastic and aluminium
components of the device, we are making a noteworthy contribution to the circular economy," he added.
Once collected, these will undergo processing at Grundon's specialist recycling facility in Ewelme, Oxfordshire, which is capable of handling more than 200,000
inhalers a day. The company aims to recycle 80 per cent of all prescribed inhalers by 2025, the statement added.
The government on Wednesday (March 2) announced an investment of £260 million to support research, development and manufacturing of new drugs, devices and
diagnostics.
Of the total funding, up to £200m has been allocated for research to better access NHS data through Trusted Research Environments and digital clinical trial services, enabling availability of crucial data with the highest levels of privacy.
This will allow the NHS to deliver new life-saving treatments to patients, tackle health inequalities and improve patient care, a government release stated.
The remaining £60m will support commercial-scale manufacturing investments by companies at the leading-edge of innovation, from cell and gene therapies and earlier
and better diagnostic technologies, to medical devices.
The funding for manufacturing investments will be distributed through the new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF), following the success of the earlier Medicines and Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund.
Cancer patients in the UK are being given a new immunotherapy treatment at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as part of a global phase 1/2 clinical
trial, which aims to evaluate its safety and potential for treating 'solid tumour' cancers such as melanoma and lung cancer.
The experimental therapy, called mRNA-4359, has been designed to train patients' immune systems to recognise and fight cancer cells, according to researchers
at Imperial College London.
For the first time in the UK, cancer patients received the treatment at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Clinical Research
Facility at Hammersmith Hospital.
In this non-randomised trial, mRNA-4359 is administered to patients either alone or in combination with an existing cancer drug called pembrolizumab, a type of
immune checkpoint inhibitor.
The researchers are hopeful that this new therapeutic approach, if proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials, could lead to a new treatment option for
difficult-to-treat cancers.
Long appointment wait times, embarrassment, and lack of trust are causing thousands of Brits to avoid visiting doctors, according to new research by
Newfoundland Diagnostics.
With 1 in 4 individuals resorting to A&E due to the lack of available GP appointments, which adds to the NHS burden, the medical self-testing brand believes that
educating the nation on at-home testing can help ease the strain on the health service.
The research revealed the top five reasons why Brits avoid visiting doctors for medical testing:
Appointments taking too long to book (28 per cent)
Embarrassment around their illnesses (15 per cent)
Preference for at-home testing (12 per cent)
Not having time (10 per cent)
Lack of trust in the NHS or their GP (7 per cent)
The research team cautioned that delaying care can worsen conditions, resulting in more severe cases that place greater strain on the NHS.
AmerisourceBergen, a leading pharmaceutical solutions organisation announced its intent to change its name to 'Cencora' to better reflect its bold vision and
purpose-driven approach to creating healthier futures.
Steven H. Collis, Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer of AmerisourceBergen said: "Over time, we have established ourselves as a trusted industry partner
that prioritizes innovation, advocates for patient access and advances strategic partnerships across the global pharmaceutical supply chain. To further bolster our
position, we must continue to adapt and evolve within our dynamic industry as we pursue the goal of enhancing health outcomes. Building a unified brand is fundamental
to our identity as a global healthcare company. We believe our new name better reflects who we are today and our impact across pharmaceutical care."
AmerisourceBergen intends to begin operating as Cencora in the second half of calendar year 2023. The change to Cencora is aligned with the organisation's growth
strategy and continued emphasis on innovation. AmerisourceBergen has focused on supporting pharmaceutical advancement and access for patients, manufacturers, and
providers across the global healthcare supply chain.
The NHS Confederation and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has published a report that demonstrated the importance of the
collaboration between industry and the NHS to improve patient outcomes across the UK.
Analysis from the report has shown a significant variation in access to innovative medicines for patients across the UK and showed that uptake of new treatments
in these areas continues to be below the average of similar countries in Europe.
The report, 'Transforming Lives, Improving Health Outcomes', has highlighted four initiatives where effective partnerships between the NHS, patient organisations
and industry have helped to tackle unwarranted variation in the uptake of innovative medicines.
Transforming Lives, Improving Health Outcomes also called for a systemwide secondary prevention strategy covering all parts of the health system creating a barrier
to wider and consistent uptake of innovative medicine. It also noted that newly created Integrated Care Systems have the potential to improve preventative treatment.
The report data also showed a 51% variation of uptake of three types of medicines related to diabetes between NHS Trusts in England.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England last month issued a "safety critical" national patient safety alert, warning about
the UK-wide shortage of a life-saving drug used to treat patients with chronic breathing issues.
NHS trusts, health authorities, ambulance services, GP practices, private healthcare providers, and community pharmacy contractors were informed that
salbutamol 2.5mg and 5mg nebuliser liquid unit dose vials are in short supply, with the latter likely to remain "out of stock" until mid-April 2024.
As per the alert, the shortage of the drug resulted from a combination of manufacturing issues, leading to heightened demand for alternative suppliers.
It was mentioned that while terbutaline, salbutamol with ipratropium, and ipratropium nebuliser liquids remained available, they could't meet the increased demand.
Thousands of cancer patients in England are set to gain fast-tracked access to personalised cancer vaccine trials through a new National Health Service(NHS)
initiative, the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
This groundbreaking service aims to find new life-saving treatments by matching eligible patients with clinical trials across the country.
The first patient to receive a personalised vaccine for bowel cancer is Elliot Phebve, a 55-year-old lecturer, treated at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS
Foundation Trust.
Phebve, diagnosed through a routine health check, underwent surgery and chemotherapy before joining the trial.
Sponsored by German biotech company BioNTech SE, the colorectal cancer vaccine trial is one of several taking place across NHS trusts.
A daily medication for high blood pressure could be replaced by an injection twice a year, if Queen Mary University and Barts Health NHS Trust succeed in their trail to investigate if an injection-based drug - Zilebesiran - could inhibit the production of a protein called angiotensinogen (AGT).
Scientists are to trial a world-first drug to treat high blood pressure that can be given by injection twice a year.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director, British Heart Foundation, said: "This exciting trial could lead to good news for the millions of people across the UK with high blood pressure, many of whom need to take daily medication to lower their risk of heart attacks and strokes.
"The study will determine whether an injection given twice a year lowers blood pressure sufficiently over a prolonged period.
"If this proves to be the case, it may provide an alternative to taking daily pills for some patients."