Paul Rees MBE has joined the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) today (27 November) as its new Chief Executive.
Current NPA Chief Executive Mark Lyonette, who is retiring, will remain at the NPA for some weeks in order to ensure a smooth handover.
Previously, Paul has worked as the Chief Executive of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for the seven years.
On joining NPA, Paul said: "It is a great privilege and honour to take up the position of NPA Chief Executive. The association is the voice of independent
community pharmacy and is core to the sector's future success in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"I am delighted that the NPA has placed its trust in me and I intend to deliver for NPA members, for the sector and for society at large, which relies on there
being a vibrant community pharmacy network in villages, towns and cities across the four nations of the UK."
When Paul's appointment was first announced in September, NPA Chair Nick Kaye said that they identified him as an "excellent fit for our organisation" after a
rigorous recruitment process, and also thanked Mark for his "great work as chief exec since 2018."
The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has signed a new US$10 million (7.8 million pounds) grant agreement with global non-profit organisation,
FIND.
This extends the UK government's support to FIND through the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) for another four years.
FIND recently announced the GAMRIF funding, which will be used to support its three-pronged strategy to prevent AMR emergence and halt its development.
Dr Cassandra Kelly-Cirino, Vice President, Health Programmes at FIND, said: "Lack of essential diagnostics that can be accessed by people when and where they are
needed is jeopardizing global efforts to combat AMR everywhere. We are grateful to GAMRIF for the continued support as we work in partnership on this multi-faceted
strategy to save lives."
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on Thursday (4 December) announced a new strategic partnership with the Bank of England to protect small
businesses from the risks associated with accepting counterfeit banknotes.
Cash is still the number one customer payment method for 25 per cent of small high street businesses, and cash payments are expected to increase during the
festive period, according to FSB.
By becoming a Strategic Partner of the Bank of England's Banknote Checking Scheme, the organisation is trying to help its members become aware of the use of
counterfeit notes, which has reputational and financial impacts.
The FSB is encouraging its members to sign up to the Scheme, which offers training materials to staff so they can identify a counterfeit note at point of sale
and know what to do with it, as well as stay up to date with best practice and bank note developments.
Travelling with medical cannabis can be a complex and often confusing experience, given the diverse legal regulations across different countries and states.
Patients who rely on medical cannabis for their wellbeing need to be well-informed and prepared to ensure a smooth and hassle-free travel experience. This
comprehensive guide covers essential aspects, legal considerations, and practical tips for individuals who use medical cannabis and wish to travel.
Know the Laws
The first and most crucial step before travelling with medical cannabis is to understand the laws and regulations of both the departure and destination locations.
Laws regarding medical cannabis use vary significantly from one country, state, or even city to another. Some places have legalised medical cannabis, while others
strictly prohibit its use. Researching and familiarising oneself with the specific regulations of the destination, transit countries, and the home country is
essential.
Travelling Within the Same Country
When travelling within a country where medical cannabis is legal, patients generally need to carry their prescription information issued by a licensed healthcare
provider. It's advisable to keep medical cannabis in its original packaging, clearly labelled with the patient's name, prescribing physician, and dosage instructions.
Carrying a copy of the relevant laws and regulations can also be helpful in case of any inquiries from authorities. What can be easier than carrying around paperwork,
which could get easily damaged or lost during your travels, is to get a medical card that has a unique QR code on it from Releaf Cannabis, which, when scanned, can
present their prescription information digitally - it has revolutionised the way patients manage their healthcare. This eliminates the need for physical documents
and streamlines the process but also ensures the security and confidentiality of sensitive medical information, offering patients a more efficient and organi
Duncan Rudkin, the CEO of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhc) has highlighted the importance of strengthening pharmacy governance to provide clarity
around how pharmacies are organised and managed.
This will ensure that patients and the public continue to receive safe and effective pharmacy care, he said while speaking at the annual Sigma Conference in
London on Sunday (5 November).
According to him, there could be rules that outlined the essential roles and responsibilities of responsible pharmacists, and professional standards for
responsible pharmacists, superintended pharmacists and chief pharmacists.
He also announced that the GPhC will be shortly launching a consultation to integrate a new set of standards for the statutory role of hospital chief
pharmacists "which up until recently has never been recognised in law." It is expected to be launched by early January 2024.
However, Duncan, emphasised that they cannot start the work on standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists until they know the government plans
in relation to supervision.
"Because of course, the responsible pharmacists' regime, and the supervision regime are in many ways intertwined, and can't certainly be looked at separately.
In a recent meeting with the head of the government's HRT Taskforce, Madelaine McTernan, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) board members gave a gist on the ongoing medicines supply issues in community pharmacy.
The meeting, which explored possible solutions to end the nationwide shortage of some Hormone Replacement Therapies, took place on Friday (May 20).
Independent contractors Reena Barai and Olivier Picard gave the so-called 'HRT tsar' an overview of the medicines supply issues in community pharmacy and discussed the new Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) which the government introduced in response to the on-going HRT disruption.
Earlier this month, the NPA attended an HRT summit organised by the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside other pharmacy bodies, wholesalers and manufacturers.
Health secretary Sajid Javid and pharmacy minister Maria Caulfield said they would be working collaboratively with manufacturers to meet demand and boost supply.
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) says the pharmacy regulator should maintain a two-year post qualification eligibility criteria, in addition to
the qualitative measures being introduced which would be in the best interest of patient safety, before a pharmacist is allowed to commence an IP course.
The association was responding to an announcement by the GPhC's move to scrap the two year requirement for Independent Prescribing (IP) course.
"The PDA accepts that the qualitative approach could mean greater individual consideration of potential IP course candidates and the two-year measure could have
sometimes been a blunt tool. However, the PDA is already seeing cases of patient harm and allegations around fitness to practice arising from IP," the association
said.
The association also said that it supports individual pharmacists with near misses, as well as actual incidents, giving the organisation possibly the most
comprehensive understanding of risk.
Frontline pharmacists also recognise these issues and in a survey of over 1,000 pharmacists undertaken by the PDA in late 2021, of those who had 2+ years'
experience of practice and who were already independent prescribers, 90 per cent said the qualifying period should be two years or more.
Two weeks prior to the closing of the hub and spoke consultation, issues around patient safety, costs and competition as well as practicalities such as what
to do with uncollected medicines were discussed in a webinar on hub and spoke dispensing on Wednesday (May 26).
The webinar was organised by Sigma Pharmaceuticals in association with the National Pharmacy Association (NPA).
NPA director of corporate affairs Gareth Jones chaired the event and was joined by Sigma's Hatul Shah and Raj Haria as well as NPA vice chair Nick Kaye and NPA
head of advice and support services Jasmine Shah.
Kaye said: "There are still many 'unknown unknowns' with hub and spoke and the jury's still out on any potential benefits. I have lots of reservations about cost
and it worries me how efficient this is for the business and the long term sustainability for the sector as a whole. Above all we need to think about the patient
at the centre of all this and the potential confusion for them."
Jasmine Shah felt patient safety was going to be the key in regards to whether the spoke and the hub would hold the ultimate responsibility and "who is going to
take the accountability as far as patient care goes".
She added: "It is most important that GPhC standards and NHS requirement are both met in identifying all the risks associated with the arrangement with hub and
spoke and ensuring that (patient safety) measures are in place. Everything that needs to be looked at is by putting the patient at heart of the arrangement and
seeing what is the safest way for them to receive care from both spoke and hub."
As part of its centenary celebrations, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has raised more than eleven thousand pounds for mental health charity Mind.
A total of £11,583 was raised for Mind and the Association continues to encourage members to support the charity.
The NPA marked its 100th birthday in 2021 and partnered with Mind in England and Wales, and equivalent charities in Scotland and Northern Ireland - SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) and Inspire Wellbeing - to raise awareness of pharmacy services for people with mental health problems and to generate funds for the work of these charities.
The NPA held set-piece events, such as sponsored walks, and pharmacists, colleagues and their families and friends were encouraged to organise their own activities.
Chief executive of the NPA, Mark Lyonette, said: "I was delighted to be at our sponsored walk in St Albans, home of our head office, last year. This and other fundraising events all underlined the message that community pharmacies are concerned with the wellbeing of the whole person - mind as well as body."
The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has called on pharmacy employers and pharmacists organisations to make donations towards the Pharmacist Support charity in the new year.
The association has urged them to donate £1 per pharmacist employee or member to the charity group to increase its funding from 2022 onwards.
Pharmacist Support, an independent charity, provides a variety of support services to pharmacists and their families, former pharmacists and pharmacy students in Great Britain.
It provides support through twelve sessions of fully funded counselling topharmacists, students, or trainees.
Since 2018, the association has donated more than £150,000 to the charity, in turn supporting its members who additionally seek assistance from Pharmacist Support.
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).
Thirty-five generic drug manufacturers will make a more affordable version of Pfizer's anti-Covid pill for the world's poorer nations, in licensing deals announced Thursday (17) by a UN-backed organisation.
The global Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) signed agreements with three dozen manufacturers to produce the oral Covid-19 treatment nirmatrelvir for supply in 95 low- and middle-income countries.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer signed a licence agreement with the MPP in November. The MPP, in turn, issued sub-licences to the generic drugs makers.
The deals announced Thursday will "help ensure access to our oral Covid-19 treatment for patients in need around the world", said Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla.
McKesson UK's CEO Toby Anderson has stepped down from the role with immediate effect after over three years with the company.
Toby joined McKesson UK as CEO in September 2018 moving from health & beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group, where he spent 12 years in various roles. As CEO Asia
and Eastern Europe, Toby was responsible for a rapidly growing business with more than 3,300 stores - including 1,500 pharmacies.
Prior to that Toby spent 11 years in a number of senior roles with J. Sainsbury, the second largest grocery retailer in the UK, his last role being Head of Online.
Dominik Meüser from AURELIUS Group said: "We are extremely grateful for the commitment Toby has demonstrated over the years to help us achieve the McKesson vision of becoming the UK's leading healthcare organisation. His leadership, during a period of great uncertainty, has given us the solid foundations we can now build on
to deliver sustained success in the future.
Community pharmacy should be involved in key decisions in neighbourhoods and systems to help reduce workload and increase patient access, a roundtable
organised by the National Pharmacy Association to discuss a recent review on primary care integration has concluded.
The NPA said it would be sending the recently published report on the roundtable to local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) and other local pharmacy leaders as a
tool to help them engage with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) which will become statutory bodies from July 1.
The 'Fuller Stocktake: Community Pharmacy Roundtable' report, published on June 13 by the NPA, is based on a meeting hosted by the association on behalf of the NHS
team running a key review of primary care integration, the so-called 'Fuller Stocktake'.
NPA integration lead, Michael Lennox, said: "The NPA recognises the critical importance of our LPC network colleagues being there for contractors at the 42 local
systems level and influencing to fulfil the laudable ambitions of the Fuller Report.
"We ensured that community pharmacy voices were heard in the stocktake process and now that conversation needs to be amplified locally."
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and Pharmacy Declares are inviting pharmacy teams from around the world to sign up and commit to taking "bold action"
on climate change as mentioned in a climate change charter which was published on Monday (June 13).
The charter asks pharmacy teams to commit to understanding how human health and the systems which underpin it are "reliant on the state of our natural environment"
and actively explore ways to make pharmacy practice and medicine use more sustainable.
It also asks to collaborate and share best practice to improve sustainability in pharmacy and healthcare; demonstrate leadership on sustainability or being a champion
for sustainability at work; and assist patients to optimise their medicine use to increase both health outcomes and environmental sustainability.
The individuals can also commit to a personal action on climate change of their own choosing.
The Charter is being supported by a strong coalition of organisations from across pharmacy including the Centre for Postgraduate Pharmacy Education, the Clinical
Pharmacy Association, College of Mental Health Pharmacy and Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has opened a survey which asks its members how they would want to take part in and learn about decisions made by the RPS.
The RPS said the survey was a core part of the independent review of member participation and communications led by communications consultancy Luther Pendragon.
It said: "We will be asking our members to join focus groups to give their opinions on how participation can be developed and strengthened, and how RPS communications
about decisions it has taken on behalf of the profession through its governance boards can be improved. We will also be asking our elected members and key external
stakeholders for their views over the coming weeks."
The Luther team will then build a series of recommendations for RPS and develop a corporate communications strategy which will include action plans to enable greater
participation.
RPS president Claire Anderson said: "We want to hear from as many of you as possible through our survey to inform how the organisation works with and engages with you,
our members.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) presented the best practice award to a pharmacist from NHS Tayside at an event on May 29 which celebrated pharmacy
practice across Scotland.
The Glasgow event, organised by RPS, brought together pharmacists from across the country to present their own best-practice examples.
These included all sectors of pharmacy, including hospital, GP practices, community and specialist settings.
Delegates at the event were asked to vote for what they considered to be the winning example of best practice. Alex Matos, specialist clinical pharmacist, won the
award for his presentation on 'Implementing Pharmacogenomics in the Stroke Service'.
Alex won a £500 bursary for travel and accommodation to the RPS's annual conference in London, where he has been invited to present on his best practice example.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published plans to amend current pharmacy legislation on dispensing errors and clarify how registered
pharmacies are governed.
The Department's response to a public consultation on rebalancing medicines legislation and pharmacy regulation programme first proposed in summer 2018 was
delayed due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The programme aims to clarify and strengthen the organisational governance arrangements of registered pharmacies, specifically to define and clarify the core
purpose of the Responsible Pharmacist and Superintendent Pharmacist roles.
It will also give the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) powers to define in professional standards how those roles are fulfilled.
A smattering of monkeypox cases in Britain has prompted authorities to offer a smallpox vaccine to some healthcare workers and others who may have been exposed,
as a handful more cases were confirmed in parts of Europe.
Monkeypox is a usually mild viral illness, characterised by symptoms of fever as well as a distinctive bumpy rash.
There are two main strains: the Congo strain, which is more severe - with up to 10 per cent mortality - and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of
about one per cent
First identified in monkeys, the viral disease typically spreads through close contact and largely occurs in west and central Africa. It has rarely spread elsewhere,
so this fresh spate of cases outside the continent has triggered concern.
In the United Kingdom, nine cases of the West African strain have been reported so far.
There isn't a specific vaccine for monkeypox, but a smallpox vaccine does offer some protection, a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) spokesperson said.
Data shows that vaccines that were used to eradicate smallpox are up to 85 per cent effective against monkeypox, according to the World Health Organisation.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been accepted as a full member of three international work-sharing partnerships.
Through these partnerships the agency said it will play vital international role in making sure medicines and medical devices are regulated safely and efficiently
worldwide,
Two of these, the International Medical Device Regulatory Forum (IMDRF) and the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals
for Human Use (ICH) are focused on improving the harmonisation and convergence of medicines and medical devices regulation globally.
The partnerships will also help the MHRA to share expertise with other leading organisations, support the development of regulatory guidelines and drive greater
harmonisation of regulation around the world. This will help deliver timely access to innovative medical products not just in the UK but globally.
