Governments must make tackling AMR worth pharmacy's whileSubscription
Pharmaceutical companies won’t develop fast, cheap and effective diagnostic tools on their own — incentives are the missing piece to tackling antimicrobial resistance.
It's not just medicines that improve health — pharmacists need a better understanding of nutritionSubscription
Research shows that dietary changes can help to manage conditions such as diabetes and asthma, so undergraduate pharmacy courses must better prepare pharmacists to advise patients on healthy eating behaviours.
Cold and flu: we need a sector-wide standard for helping patients to self care
Setting a high quality standard for helping patients to self manage their cold and flu symptoms benefits everyone working in the healthcare sector.
For community pharmacists, the new contract does not add upSubscription
Changes outlined in the new pharmacy contract come into force on 1 October 2019, but pharmacists need clarity on these extra services and whether or not they will ultimately help or hinder patient care.
Regan McCahill: 'The mental health of students is of the utmost importance'Subscription
Regan McCahill, president of the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association, explains how her organisation will support newly qualified pharmacists in 2020.
Simon Dukes: 'The government won't say how many pharmacies it wants to close'Subscription
The chief negotiator for community pharmacy in England on the new contract he agreed with ministers, and what it means for the future of community pharmacy.
Duncan Craig: 'I'm concerned students' scientific acumen is completely ignored'Subscription
The chair of the Pharmacy Schools Council on five-year MPharm degrees, apprenticeships and the impact of Brexit on research.
Catriona Matheson: 'I support decriminalisation of illegal drugs for personal use'
Having spent her entire career researching pharmacy services for drug users, Catriona Matheson is the ideal person to head up Scotland’s Drug Deaths Taskforce. Here, she explains what the group will do to tackle rising drug deaths in Scotland.
'Paperless NHS' drive ignores community pharmacySubscription
A lack of funding and the effects of the electronic prescribing system have meant that pharmacies are using more paper than ever.
Getting to grips with the polypharmacy challengeSubscription
Over the next two months, The Pharmaceutical Journal will publish the results of its call for papers on medicines optimisation.
Controlled drug complacency is dangerousSubscription
Despite the UK having robust measures in place to protect and monitor the supply of controlled drugs, reporting of incidents must improve.
Pharmacy students should be able to trust the Oriel processSubscription
Since its introduction in 2017, the Oriel system has come a long way, but it must improve to ensure that preregistration training is suitable for all candidates.
We should not write off vitamin D supplementation — especially in pregnancySubscription
Testing all pregnant women for insufficient vitamin D levels is expensive, but two systematic reviews suggest that providing them all with vitamin D supplements could reduce risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and low birth weight.
We must follow these five rules to avert an antimicrobial resistance crisisSubscription
Simply reducing the use of antibiotics, while discovering new ones, is not enough to keep resistance at bay — healthcare professionals need to understand bacteria’s evolutionary biology if they are to subvert it.
Why the newly licensed antibiotic cefepime should be introduced to UK formulariesSubscription
Healthcare trusts should consider introducing the antibiotic cefepime to their outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy services to tackle infections that are becoming resistant to carbapenem antibiotics.
At last, a new treatment option for diabetes-related chronic kidney diseaseSubscription
Guideline-changing trial results released earlier in 2019 suggest that SGLT2 inhibitors could be a viable treatment solution for patients with diabetes and evidence of kidney damage.
Like mother, like son: moving to the UK from Baghdad to excel in pharmacy
When he arrived in the UK, my son could speak only a few English words, but now he is studying to become a pharmacist.
Why having a mentor is so important to pharmacists working in general practice
New general practice pharmacists can feel isolated, but mentorship can boost their resilience and the care they give patients, says clinical pharmacist Niketa Dass.
How our pharmacy became the first in North Wales to write prescriptions for minor illnessesSubscription
Superintendent pharmacist Steffan John shares his experience of treading new ground in the launch of North Wales’ first acute minor illness service, led by independent prescribing pharmacists.
How we introduced population health management to our hospital trustSubscription
University College London Hospitals Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is using its patients’ data to identify groups with similar characteristics and design new models of proactive care specifically for them.
Community pharmacy careers are not inferior to those in other sectorsSubscription
I read Ankit Thapar’s response to ‘Those “timid about inclusion” will not succeed, delegates hear at RPS’s first BAME event’ with interest.
Developing a co-produced e-learning programme to support marginalised medically underserved patients Subscription
There have been recent calls for the NHS to pursue a value-based healthcare system, one that is “equitable, sustainable and transparent”[1]. However, promoting a culture based on the values of patient-centred care can be challenging. One notable example in pharmacy ...
The government must ease and encourage medical cannabis researchSubscription
It’s been over a year since the rules were changed to allow clinicians to prescribe cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) but very little has changed.
Individualised approach to care reduces overtreatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in frail older people Subscription
Intensive treatment with insulin and sulfonylureas in older people with low HbA1c (<53mmol/mol) can increase the risk of hypoglycaemia, morbidity and mortality. Older people are less likely to benefit from the long-term protective effects of good glycaemic control and are at risk of inappropriate polypharmacy owing to co-morbidities.
Gripping account of the human cost of the United States' opioid crisisSubscription
BBC Three. Addicted: America’s Opioid Crisis
A heated look at vaccine oppositionSubscription
BBC. Conspiracy Files: Vaccine Wars. Current Affairs Television: London; 2019
Honest and challenging look at the state of young people's mental health in the UKSubscription
Dispatches. Young, British and Depressed. London: Channel 4; 2019
Clear guide to managing the menopause and using HRTSubscription
Menopause: All you need to know in one concise manual by Louise Newson
Peter Hylands (1946–2019) Subscription
As the first pharmaceutical scientist member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Peter Hylands’ respected and varied career specialised in natural products research.
Stewart Adams (1923–2019)Subscription
Having fallen into the pharmacy profession “purely by chance”, Stewart Adams OBE went on to discover ibuprofen, one of the world’s best selling anti-inflammatory painkillers.
‘Pioneer of pharmacy’: Graham Calder (1933–2018) Subscription
Described as a ‘pioneer of pharmacy’, former chief pharmacist of Scotland Graham Calder has been an inspiration for many pharmacy professionals during, and since, his varied career.
William Charles Evans (1924–2018) Subscription
Author of Trease and Evans’ Pharmacognosy, a seminal text on the chemistry and uses of medicinal plants, William Charles Evans was a prolific researcher and educator throughout his 60-year career.
