Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has released a series of resources to help pharmacy owners and their teams promote the new Pharmacy First service, which
is slated for launch on 31st January 2024.
Pharmacists can use a variety of resources, including posters, social media content, flyers and a local press release, to raise awareness of the new service to
patients and members of the public.
The promotional materials are now available to download from the Committee's website.
"The messaging and graphics have been developed with the input of pharmacists and pharmacy owners, to highlight the benefits of the service to patients, the
public, and the NHS," it said.
CPE has been providing a range of information, guidance and resources to support community pharmacies in the implementation of the new service.
Beginning Monday 29 January 2024, the committee will be hosting a series of online drop-in sessions (no need to register) to assist pharmacy professionals with
any queries they may have on the service.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have been tasked to evaluate the impact, safety and effectiveness of the
Pharmacy First service, which was launched across England in January 2024.
They have been awarded £2.4million by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to generate evidence on the new service that allows
pharmacies to provide advice and treatment for seven common conditions without the need for a GP appointment.
After consultation, if necessary, a community pharmacist can supply some prescription-only medicines to treat earache, sore throat, sinusitis, impetigo,
shingles, infected insect bites or uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.
The LSHTM researcher team will be working together with experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and
Nottingham on the project.
Dr Rebecca Glover, assistant professor in Antimicrobial Resistance at LSHTM, who will lead the three-year project, said they will evaluate "Pharmacy First's
impact on GPs and the wider NHS, pharmacy services and patients."
There's a lot of misinformation out there so people find it difficult to determine whether marijuana is right for them. Here are some tips that a first time marijuana user.
A three-wheeled wheelchair was built in 1655 or 1680 by a disabled German man, Stephan Farffler, who wanted to be able to maintain his mobility. Since he was a watch-maker, he was able to create a vehicle that was powered by hand cranks.
In 1789, two French inventors developed a three wheeled vehicle, powered by pedals; They called it the tricycle.
19th century tricycle used in Iran
In 1818, British inventor Denis Johnson patented his approach to designing tricycles.[clarification needed] In 1876, James Starley developed the Coventry Lever Tricycle, which used two small wheels on the right side and a large drive wheel on the left side; power was supplied by hand levers. In 1877, Starley developed a new vehicle he called the Coventry Rotary, which was "one of the first rotary chain drive tricycles." Starley's inventions started a tricycling craze in Britain; by 1879, there were " twenty types of tricycles and multi-wheel cycles ... produced in Coventry, England, and by 1884, there were over 120 different models produced by 20 manufacturers." The first front steering tricycle was manufactured by The Leicester Safety Tricycle Company of Leicester, England in 1881 which was brought to the market in 1882 costing £18. They also developed a folding tricycle at the same time.
Tricycles were used by riders who did not feel comfortable on the high wheelers, such as women who wore long, flowing dresses. In the UK, upright tricycles are sometimes referred to as "barrows". Many trike enthusiasts ("trikies") in the UK belong to the Tricycle Association, formed in 1929. They participate in day rides, tours and time trials. Massed start racing of upright tricycles is limited to one or two criteriums such as in Bungay, Suffolk each year.
Bahubali-2 is all fixed to publicize the first look poster on October 22. Baahubali 2 is the utmost anticipated pictures and newly SS Rajamouli publicized that first look of Baahubali: The Conclusion will be out on 22nd October, 2016. This news was tweeted by the director Rajamouli himself. However if sources are to be alleged, fans all over ...
Dr Gokhale and his team did the first successful lung transplantation in Telangana & Andhra Pradesh. He is one of the only two surgeons in India who performed
Health services in the UK today (January 4) marked the first anniversary of the deployment of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine in fight against Covid-19.
Exactly a year ago, the UK became the first country in the world to administer the vaccine by jabbing Brian Pinker, 82 at Oxford University Hospital.
So far, around 50 million AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered to people in the UK.
Commenting on the landmark day, vaccines minister Maggie Throup said: "The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is a UK success story and demonstrates what can be achieved when researchers, scientists and the government work together.
"The at-cost vaccine has given billions of people around the world a way to fight back against this virus."
Further, she urged people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families this winter.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has invited pharmacy contractors, LPCs and others in the sector to share their views on an open
consultation on the "future of community pharmacy".
"The consultation - which takes the form of an online survey - is the first opportunity within PSNC's vision project for individuals and organisations to share
their thoughts with Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund," said PSNC.
The survey is happening in addition to an extensive programme of research, interviews and initial meetings of the vision Steering Group, Advisory Panel, and Working
Groups, all of which have contractors, LPCs and other representatives of the sector at their heart.
The online survey, asks five questions on topics such as Future policy goals; Why previous reviews and policies may not have fully achieved their objectives; Design
principles that should underpin the service offer made by community pharmacy; and Blocks and enablers for change.
The leading pharmacy bodies have come together to launch the 'Save Our Pharmacies' campaign which highlights the pressure and untapped potential of the sector.
Pharmacy bodies- Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp), Company Chemists' Association (CCA), National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) have agreed to work together on a programme of activities to lobby for fair NHS funding for pharmacies in England, including
co-ordinating efforts to mobilise public support.
The campaign will focus on highlighting both the pressures that pharmacies are under and the huge untapped potential of the sector - including to offer a Pharmacy
First service - if appropriate resourcing is made available.
Mark Lyonette, NPA Chief executive, said: "Together we will be cranking up the noise to persuade Government and NHS to make the right choices and back the community
pharmacy sector with decent funding. Maintaining patient and public support is critical to our campaigning success, so this will be a key focus in the months ahead.
Our joint message is very clear: pharmacies can help get the NHS back on its feet, but not while the sector itself is on its knees."
The pharmacy bodies will develop shared resources for effective parliamentary lobbying and mobilising public opinion, in the face of chronic underfunding that
threatens further pharmacy closures. They will also work hard to show off the value of pharmacy and to continue pushing for a fully funded Pharmacy First service.
Britain has become the first country to approve a Codiv-19 vaccine that targets both the original and Omicron variant of the virus.
Medicines regulator MHRA approved the so-called bivalent vaccine made by US drug company Moderna as a booster for adults.
The agency's decision was based on clinical trial data that showed the booster triggered "a strong immune response" against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original
2020 virus, it said.
The MHRA also cited an exploratory analysis in which the shot was also found to generate a good immune response against the currently dominant Omicron offshoots BA.4
and BA.5.
"The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines being used in the UK continue to provide important protection against the disease and save lives," MHRA chief executive
June Raine said in a statement.
"What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharpened tool in our armoury to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve."
A member of the English Pharmacy Board and RPS Assembly, Sharon Isobel Tait Buckle (also known as Sibby) has been elected unopposed as the treasurer of the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
Sibby takes over the role from Andre Yeung, whose tenure ended in June 2022.
Sibby was first elected to the English board in 2012 and is the first woman to hold the post since RPS became the professional leadership body in 2010. She is
already part of the Finance and Investment Committee, where RPS budgets, pensions, assets, financial priorities and performance, reserves and investment policies
are scrutinised and agreed.
Commenting on her new role, Buckle said: "I want to build on the great contribution made by our previous Treasurer. Over the next two years of my tenure I will
monitor and challenge our financial performance, our focus on Environmental, Social and Governance factors (ESG), investment strategy and performance and our
financial governance.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, health secretary Steve Barclay stated that he has asked his officials within DHSC to look at a "pharmacy first"
approach to alleviate pressures on A&E departments in order to avoid the widely predicted NHS winter crisis.
On the face of it, this a welcome if long overdue recognition that community pharmacy is an essential part of our national healthcare infrastructure alongside our
GP and A&E colleagues. But let's not get carried away - we have had lots of praise from politicians in the past which have not then been backed by firm commitments
for a sustainable future for the network.
Could this be a turning point? I hope so, but I am not confident it will be. I fear this may turn out to be another emergency stop-gap measure which does nothing to
secure the long-term viability of the sector in England.
The role of community pharmacy during the recent Covid pandemic demonstrated clearly how important we are to ensure people have easy access to essential healthcare
support, advice and services. The NHS winter crisis can only be avoided or at least mitigated if the potential of the community pharmacy network to provide more
patient care services is unlocked and that Barclay requires you to end pharmacy funding austerity and start investing.
The Treasury will no doubt say there is no more money, but what then the alternative other than a NHS winter crisis? And, of course, treating people in secondary care
settings is far more costly than community pharmacy based interventions.
Boots has become the first community pharmacy in the UK to transport prescription medicines by a drone.
The pharmacy multiple completed a test flight transporting prescription-only medicines by drone from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight earlier this month.
The flight departed from the British Army's Baker Barracks on Thorney Island near Portsmouth and arrived at St. Mary's Hospital on the Isle of Wight. The medicines
were collected by Boots personnel and transported to the multiple's pharmacies across the island, where they will be dispensed to patients with prescriptions for them.
Boots worked with medical drone start-up Apian to facilitate the test flight and is now assessing the future potential for drones in medicines delivery.
Rich Corbridge, chief information officer at Boots, said: "Drones have a huge potential in the delivery of medicines and it is incredibly exciting to be the first
community pharmacy in the UK to transport them in this way. An island location like the Isle of Wight seemed like a sensible place to start a trial of drones and
their value to the delivery of medicines to more remote locations is very clear.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called the future prime minister to deliver on the commitments made by the previous health secretaries to reform
primary care through a 'pharmacy first' approach and fairly fund community pharmacies to avoid closures.
In an open letter, the NPA has urged Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, the two leadership contenders of the Conservative Party and prime ministerial candidates, to think
radically about the role of England's 11,000 pharmacies, which are on the frontline of healthcare across the country.
NPA also highlighted how pharmacies could help clear the NHS backlog, free up millions more GP appointments, dramatically improve access to primary health care and
do more to prevent ill health and support people with long term medical conditions.
"Because of our unparalleled presence in deprived areas, we also have great potential to level up access to healthcare and address health inequalities. We set these
ideas out in How We Can Help, which is an improvement plan already welcomed by many of your colleagues."
The UK government's proposal to introduce a tobacco and vapes bill received support from the public to create the first 'smokefree generation'.
The historic law to ban the sale of tobacco products to children aged 14 and younger from legally being sold cigarettes in England.
King Charles delivered his first speech as monarch at the state opening of Parliament on Tuesday, 7 November.
The monarch announced the introduction of the "tobacco and vapes bill" in his speech, and it read: "My Government will introduce legislation to create a
smoke-free generation by restricting the sale of tobacco so that children currently aged 14 or younger can never be sold cigarettes, and restricting the
sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to children."
Online pharmacy Pharmacy2U, acquires LloydsDirect in a merger for a single digital-first pharmacy.
The companies issued a statement on 9 October and confirmed that they would operate as Pharmacy2U.
It would also have a total of 1.4 million EPS nominations, as confirmed by NHS recent data.
They are planning to enhance patient accessibility to online pharmacy and healthcare services through their combined services.
Kevin Heath, Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacy2U, said: "We are delighted to welcome the LloydsDirect team into the Pharmacy2U family. Combining the best
of both of our businesses, we can provide patients with greater access and convenience.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has authorised an innovative and first-of-its-kind gene-editing treatment for sickle-cell
disease and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia.
Known as Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel), the treatment is based on the innovative gene-editing tool CRISPR, for which its inventors were awarded the Nobel
Prize in 2020.
Casgevy is the first medicine to be licensed that uses CRISPR, and it is to be used for treating patients aged 12 and over.
To date, a bone marrow transplant has been the only permanent treatment option for these life-long conditions, which in some cases can be fatal.
The MHRA's authorisation came after a rigorous assessment of its safety, quality and effectiveness.
Pharmacists, councillors and NHS leaders came together at Portsmouth's first Community Pharmacy Summit to address some of the challenges facing community
pharmacy locally.
They explored ways to reduce the huge pressures on pharmacy, tackle abuse towards staff, enable pharmacists to undertake training to treat more illnesses, and to
protect the current and future workforce.
Portsmouth City Council, which hosted the Summit on Wednesday 15 November, also invited representatives from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, University
of Portsmouth, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board and businesses to discuss new opportunities to work together.
Held at Portsmouth Guildhall, the event was chaired by Cllr Matthew Winnington, Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing, Health and Care, and Cllr Gerald
Vernon-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Transport.
The sale of these pharmacies has demonstrated that there's demand from independent buyers for quality settings, said specialist business property adviser,
Christie & Co.
All six pharmacies across London and Surrey were bought by independents, including two first-time buyers.
Eagercare (The Pharmacy) in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, which dispenses an average of 1,650 items per month, has been sold to Rifqa Jibara, a first-time buyer.
Ashford Lodge in Ashford, Surrey, which dispenses an average of 4,400 items per month, has been bought by local operator, Tahir Hussain.
Pharmacare in Richmond, Surrey, which dispenses an average of 5,679 items per month, has also been sold to a local operator, named Akhil Shah.
In its first, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended the use of long-acting injectable treatment for HIV-1 infection in adults, making around 13,000 people eligible for treatment with cabotegravir with rilpivirine in England.
The new treatment aims to keep the number of virus particles in the blood so low that it cannot be detected or transmitted between people.
Current treatment for HIV‑1 is lifelong antiretroviral tablets taken each day.
Use of cabotegravir with rilpivirine is recommended when there is no evidence tosuspect viral resistance, and no previous failure of other anti-HIV-1 medicines.
"Clinical trial results show that cabotegravir with rilpivirine is as effective as oralantiretrovirals at keeping the viral load low," NICE stated.
Both are administered as two separate injections every two months, after an initial oral (tablet) lead-in period.
