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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for scrapping unfair benefit rules for migrant nursing staff, warning that these policies risk triggering a mass exodus from the UK's healthcare workforce. A recent RCN report indicated that two-thirds of internationally educated nursing staff are considering leaving the UK and returning to their country of training due to the high cost of living. The report, which is based on survey responses from more than 3,000 international nursing staff, also revealed that those from overseas are "twice as likely as domestic colleagues to report being in financial difficulty" and are "almost three times as likely as UK counterparts to withdraw from their pension due to the cost of living." It also highlighted the impact of the 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) rule, which prevents migrants on temporary visas, such as the Health and Care Worker visa, from accessing essential benefits. In response to this report, the union has urged the government to immediately end these restrictive rules and reduce visa fees, including Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) application costs.

NHS England has confirmed the initial sites that will test and implement Martha's Rule in the first phase of the programme. This follows the announcement in February regarding NHSE funding for the major patient safety initiative for this financial year. The scheme is named after Martha Mills, who died from sepsis at the age of 13 in 2021. She had been treated at King's College Hospital, London, where a failure to escalate her to intensive care and a lack of response to her family's concerns about her deteriorating condition contributed to her death. Martha's Rule aims to provide a consistent and understandable way for patients and families to seek an urgent review if their or their loved one's condition deteriorates and they are concerned this is not being responded to. NHS England on Monday (27 May) announced that the scheme will be implemented at 143 hospital sites across the country by March 2025.

To buy/order prescription drugs online you need an authentic online pharmacy as many fake online portals are running online. So, to solve this issue the new draft rules for online pharmacies have come at the beginning of the year 2019. Every online pharmacy has to act according to these rules in order to run its pharmacy without any hassle. Let's know what are these rules. Call +91-9953330666 to order prescription drugs online from PillsBills.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), led by Victoria Atkins MP and Maria Caulfield MP, has unveiled proposed updates to the NHS Constitution for England, aiming to fortify the principles of privacy, dignity, and safety for all patients. Martha's rule was prompted by a campaign led by the parents of 13-year-old Martha Mills who tragically succumbed to sepsis after staff at King's College Hospital failed to escalate her care to intensive care, despite her family's pleas regarding her worsening condition in 2021. Under the new guidance is the introduction of Martha's Rule, empowering patients to request intimate care from someone of the same biological sex ensuring that the distinct needs of men and women are recognized and addressed. Patients and their loved ones can exercise the right to "access to a rapid review from outside the care team if the patient is deteriorating." The consultation on the proposed updates is set to run for eight weeks, inviting feedback from patients, healthcare professionals, and stakeholders for a review

Online pharmacy is the biggest business in India but now new laws and rules have come that restrict the sale of online medicines from the online portal who do not have the required license and authority to sell these prescription medications online. Let us find out what are these rules that are affecting online pharmacies running in India. Although these are only draft rules applied in 2019 but can cause a great effect on these online portals.

In significant development, the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) has advised its Boots members to challenge the "trustees' decision to end the ability to take an unreduced pension from age 60 by submitting complaints through the scheme's two-stage internal disputes procedure". The issue centers around the alterations made to pension scheme rules without the adequate disclosure to scheme members or their representatives. The PDA has drafted template letters to assist scheme members in response to undisclosed changes during a buyout process, sparking legal challenges and demands for transparency from Boots and scheme trustees. Paul Moloney, National Officer of the PDA Union leading the campaign, expressed concern over the sudden withdrawal of the right to an unreduced pension from age 60. "We have always maintained that members had a right under the rules to draw an unreduced pension from age 60," Moloney stated.

Pharmacies in England will soon be allowed to dispense up to 10 per cent more or less than the quantity prescribed for NHS prescriptions, thanks to the introduction of new original pack dispensing (OPD) rules. These changes are part of regulatory amendments laid on Tuesday, 3 September, and will come into effect over the coming months. The amendments are being made to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2024 (PLPS). Starting 1 January 2025, pharmacies will have the option to adjust the prescribed quantity by up to 10 per cent for NHS prescriptions so medicines can be supplied in their original manufacturer's pack. Earlier in October 2023, changes to the Human Medicines Regulations (HMRs) permitted pharmacies to dispense up to 10 per cent more or less than the prescribed quantity for private prescriptions of Prescription Only Medicines (POMs).

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has urged pharmacy owners to maintain the safety of their services while managing the additional workload brought on by the collective action of GP services, starting today (Thursday, 1 August). General practices across England have begun implementing a work-to-rule strategy indefinitely, following a ballot of GP partners conducted by the British Medical Association (BMA). Under this approach, GP practices will strictly adhere to contracted hours and duties, performing only the tasks specified in their NHS contract. With fewer GP appointments available, it is anticipated that more patients will turn to their community pharmacies for help and advice. Therefore, CPE has stressed the importance of pharmacy owners maintaining the safety of their services, with a focus on the safe supply of medicines, during this period of GP collective action.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has published updated guidance on online pharmacy services in Great Britain, introducing additional safeguards to prevent unsafe supply of high-risk medicines, including weight loss injections. Under the new rules, medicines used for weight-management and medicines requiring physical examination before a prescribing decision is made have been added to the list of high-risk medicines. When prescribing these medicines, prescribers can no longer rely solely on online questionnaires. Instead, they must independently verify patient information, either through timely two-way communication with the person, accessing the person's clinical records, or contacting the person's GP, their regular prescriber, or a third-party provider. These measures aim to prevent individuals from providing false information to obtain medicines that may not be clinically appropriate for them, reducing potential harm. The pharmacy regulator updated its guidance in response to concerns identified relating to unsafe prescribing and supply of medicines online.

Last month, the UK secured the final ratification required to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), marking a significant milestone in its international trade relations. The deal, set to come into force by 15 December 2024, will establish the UK as part of a free trade area spanning five continents and nearly 600 million people. With more than 99 per cent of UK goods exports to CPTPP members becoming tariff-free, the agreement is poised to boost exports and contribute to the government's goal of driving economic growth. In an exclusive interview with Pharmacy Business, Mark Samuels, chief executive of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), discussed the impact of the UK's accession to CPTPP on the pharmaceutical sector, particularly for generic medicine manufacturers. "In many respects, the UK's accession to CPTPP will not immediately impact medicine manufacturers," Samuels said. "CPTPP had already set out the regulatory, intellectual property (IP) and market access rules in the other 11 member countries, and the UK has already worked to the standards framework in the agreement."

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) will ask its members to vote on taking industrial action in order to bring to the public's attention the "slow death of community pharmacy", the organisation's chief executive has told Pharmacy Business. The NPA, which represents 6,000 community pharmacies across the UK, announced today that it will be sending a formal ballot to its members to vote on work to rule plans to protest against a decade of cuts to pharmacy funding. The ballot will ask pharmacies to consider a range of actions if the financial situation for pharmacies does not improve. This includes, reduction in services; cut hours to contract minimums; withdraw free deliveries or end the provision of free blister packs; cease to share data with the NHS unless it's a legal requirement; and consider serving notice on a range of locally contracted services, negotiated directly with local authorities. The ballot will be open for responses for six weeks and any action supported by a majority of pharmacies could take place before Christmas.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) is inviting community pharmacy owners to share their insights and views about increasing Pharmacy First thresholds and the effects of GP collective action on their pharmacies. This feedback will be discussed at the upcoming Community Pharmacy England Committee meeting in September. During the meeting, the Committee members will also discuss urgent matters including the 2024/25 negotiations, collaboration with the new government, and their ongoing strategies. A key point of discussion will also be the effects of GP work-to-rule action on community pharmacies. CPE has raised concerns that many pharmacies might face challenges meeting the scheduled increases in the monthly Pharmacy First payment threshold, noting that pharmacy owners are already considering their options if they start failing to meet the threshold. In response to concerns from Community Pharmacy England, Ministers have recently agreed to lower the August threshold from 20 to 15.

Pharmacy owners will be given additional time to claim for the provision of four services if IT issues, outside their control, prevent timely submissions. Effective February 2025, this provision applies to Hypertension Case-Finding, Pharmacy Contraception Service, Pharmacy First, and Smoking Cessation Services. Currently, claims must be submitted via the Manage Your Service (MYS) portal by the 5th of the following month, with late claims accepted only within three months of the actual submission date. Under the new rule, pharmacy owners will have an additional twelve months (from the date by which the claim should have been submitted) to claim payment if they can provide evidence of an IT issue beyond their control that delayed the claim submission. This new provision will be included in Part VIC of the February 2025 Drug Tariff, which will also have a clarification about de-registration from the four advanced services. The clarification will state that pharmacy owners who de-register from providing one of these services cannot re-register for four months after their 30-day notice period ends.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has alerted pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy owners via email regarding new emergency legislation governing the prescribing and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones, commonly known as 'puberty blockers', for children and young people under 18 in England, Wales, and Scotland. The regulations apply to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues, used to suppress puberty as part of treating gender incongruence or gender dysphoria in individuals under 18. Effective from 3 June 2024, new private prescriptions for GnRH analogues from prescribers in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland who are not UK registered are banned from being dispensed in Great Britain for patients under 18. The emergency ban on these medicines will remain in effect until September 3, 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on 29 May, stating that the action has been taken to address risks to "patient safety."