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The UCL Square Alumni Foundation realised my childhood dream to study pharmacy in BotswanaSubscription
Pharmacists have a role in the early detection of head and neck cancerSubscription
COVID-19 vaccine: let’s be honest about serendipity in clinical trialsSubscription
Provisionally registered pharmacists stepped up for us during the pandemic — why are we not stepping up for them now?Subscription
I often confuse my plain white tablets — shouldn't they have markings?Subscription
I am simply an ordinary patient of my local GP practice. I have several medical conditions controlled by a considerable number of tablet medications of various shapes, colours and sizes. I normally sort these into daily doses for seven days.
Pharmacists should be offered the COVID-19 vaccine as frontline workersSubscription
In the December 2020 issue of The Pharmaceutical Journal, there was a fitting tribute to the pharmacy staff in the UK who lost their lives to COVID-19.
The pandemic’s challenge to evidence-based medicine shows off-label use is an important tool
In 2020, the medical and research communities have scrambled towards finding an effective intervention against the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. And in lieu of data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions against the disease (considered the gold standard of evidence), clinicians were forced to consider lesser forms of evidence, and prescribe ‘off-label’ — the sometimes controversial practice in which a drug is prescribed outside of its original licensed intention.
Our weekly virtual department ‘peer reviews’ are supporting professional development and keeping up morale
Uncollected discharge medicines on mental health wards and the impact on medicines-related readmissionsSubscription
Unplanned hospital readmission figures are frequently used within healthcare as an indicator of quality, with rapid readmissions, particularly those within 30 days, being considered poor.
How patient-centred are you? No, how patient-centred are you really?Subscription
All pharmacists should consider a research fellowshipSubscription
The regulator should have given preregistration students full registration by trusting honest accounts from their tutorsSubscription
Is racism really a problem in our profession?Subscription
Bravo to the pharmacist whose yellow card is making inhalers saferSubscription
Reporting a risk to the Yellow Card scheme: do you think it’s worth it?
Sponsoring pharmacy students in sub-Saharan AfricaSubscription
While the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in public health policies and healthcare services, it has also demonstrated how pharmacists can have an increased role in delivering healthcare. This is true for both developed and developing countries, but for the latter, a shortage of healthcare personnel is limiting this role.
New pharmacist-led network is sharing best practice in medicines for neurodiverse patientsSubscription
As pharmacy professionals, we work across a wide range of sectors in various locations, within different clinical specialities and teams to deliver best practice in medicines optimisation.
Mixed feelings about prescribing studies for pharmacy undergraduatesSubscription
In July 2020, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) proposed major reforms to the initial education and training for pharmacists, which included replacing the pre-registration year with foundation training and subsequent plans to
Investigating the use of plant-based artemisinin against COVID-19Subscription
In May 2020, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, hailed the use of remdesivir in NHS treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Genomic Medicine Service alliances ring in a new era for pharmacySubscription
I fondly remember learning about DNA, genes and chromosomes during my A-levels and, since then, I’ve been fascinated by how an organism’s genome contains all of the information needed to grow, develop and repair. Almost simply, four nucleotide bases and their combinations give a unique code (genome) that make us all individual: individual in physical characteristics, but also individual in our risk of developing certain conditions, how they progress and how we respond to medication.
Psychosis patients' voices are lost in research papers and at conferences, so I'm telling their storiesSubscription
I’m a mental health pharmacist and I recently finished a two-year masters degree in clinical research in patients’ experiences of psychosis. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have undertaken to date: from obtaining ethics approval, to data analysis, to the arduous write-up and viva that followed.
Join the European Women Pharmacists Meeting on coping with the COVID-19 crisisSubscription
The past few months, dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have emphasised the importance of working together, sharing experience and knowledge, and keeping abreast of clinical developments, both nationally and internationally.
We need new medication software to link hospital care to community pharmacySubscription
As a relief pharmacist, and a locum on my days-off, there’s variation in my work — I check a plethora of interesting medications across a range of demographic groups.
We always used to put returned medicines to good use if it was appropriateSubscription
I appreciated the article ‘The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the government to allow medicines reuse: we must not waste this opportunity ...
Medical training for pharmacists would give our profession a new lease of lifeSubscription
I think the pharmacy profession could slip into oblivion sooner rather than later if nothing is done to change the status quo. The way to give the profession a new lease of life is to fully support the government’s idea to train pharmacists to become doctors.
Pharmacists should make themselves familiar with the Antifungal Drug Interactions DatabaseSubscription
In this time of growing antimicrobial resistance, we do not have unlimited ways to effectively treat a systemic infection. We must be antimicrobial stewards and use antimicrobials responsibly to preserve their effectiveness[1]. This applies to antifungals too — not just antibiotics
How collaboration was key at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the HumberSubscription
We were interested to read the article ‘The COVID-19 emergency hospitals: seizing the challenge’ in the May 2020 issue of The Pharmaceutical Journal, and here we report how working together across the hospitals in our area allowed the NHS Nightingale Hospital ...
BAME patients less likely to take up community pharmacy services in North West LondonSubscription
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the interplay between ethnicity and poor health outcomes has rightly come under scrutiny. A high proportion of those who have lost their lives to COVID-19 were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups.
How we have facilitated workplace-based assessments amid social distancing measuresSubscription
Social distancing measures implemented to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have presented many challenges in the workplace. On the clinical pharmacy postgraduate diploma at the Liverpool John Moores University we need to balance compliance with these measures without compromising a practitioner’s training. This prompted me to consider alternative ways of facilitating workplace-based assessments (WBAs), especially for students who require observations of their practice.
Why community pharmacy should receive the hospital discharge letterSubscription
Patients who stay in hospital can often feel frightened, stressed and vulnerable, so hearing the words “we will discharge you today” can be so comforting. We need to make sure that these patients receive the best possible treatment after they have been discharged.
What does it really mean to 'follow the science'?
Open access article
Pharmacy and managing dental care during the COVID-19 pandemicSubscription
On 5 February 2020, I concluded a three-part learning series for the The Pharmaceutical Journal which discussed the management of dental emergencies in community pharmacy[1],
Concentrating on educational and scientific matters in The Pharmaceutical JournalSubscription
My compatriot from student days David Kent asks why there are so few letters to The Pharmaceutical Journal at present.
Infection prevention and enhancing antimicrobial stewardship in Zambia Subscription
Established in 2014, the Brighton–Lusaka Pharmacy Link (BLPL) connects Zambian pharmacists from the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) and the University of Zambia with British pharmacists from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH), the University of Brighton and the University of Sussex. Together, the group reviews common interests, identifies system gaps in both England or Zambia, and develops joint educational goals — most recently focusing on antimicrobial stewardship ..
Why is The Pharmaceutical Journal receiving so few letters?Subscription
I write as a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) since 1968. At that time, and for many years after, The Pharmaceutical Journal was a vibrant, interesting and informative publication, well suited to the needs of the membership, including community pharmacists. It has been said that the health of a professional publication can be measured by the letters to the editor, and debate that the content leads to. This Journal used to excel; but not now.
Community pharmacy has a big role in managing the conditions that double as risk factors for pandemic diseases
Open access article
Real respect for patients is having respect for their morals, despite your ownSubscription
I was very pleased to see the article ‘Refusing to supply emergency hormonal contraception undermines our profession — no pharmacist should do it’, by Cathy Cooke in the March 2020 issue of The Pharmaceutical ...
