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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.
Providing self-care advice for cold and flu keeps antibiotics working
Antimicrobial stewardship is not just the remit of selected healthcare professionals — everyone in society has a role to play in protecting our supply of antimicrobial products.
We must declare Scotland's drug deaths a public health emergencySubscription
The number of drug-related deaths in Scotland has soared to the highest level in the EU. We know which strategies can tackle this crisis — we should be using them.
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.
Keith Ridge: 'This is the most fantastic time for pharmacy ever'Subscription
England’s chief pharmaceutical officer speaks about being in the driving seat during one of the most crucial times for pharmacy.
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.
Moratorium on online dispensing of opioids is requiredSubscription
An undercover investigation carried out by The Times is further proof that online pharmacies should be prohibited from prescribing and dispensing opioid medicines until they can prove they are safe.
Making consultations count in cold and flu
By adopting a unified approach to encourage consistent self-management for cold and flu, pharmacy teams can demonstrate the sector’s wider value on the healthcare landscape.
For patients' sake, no-deal Brexit must be avoidedSubscription
Despite much preparation, crashing out of the EU without a deal throws up too much uncertainty for patients for it to be a viable option.
We must follow these five rules to avert an antimicrobial resistance crisisSubscription
Just 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.
Pharmacists must embrace pharmacogenetic services before other professions beat them to it Subscription
Multidisciplinary genetic testing services will help patients receive more targeted medicines, and pharmacists are the obvious healthcare professional to lead them.
My horrific encounter with ‘fitness-to-practise’
The fitness-to-practise process dehumanises those it seeks to protect — it must drastically change, says pharmacist Sarah Seddon.
How a portfolio career like mine could give the pharmacy workforce a boost Subscription
Working across different settings not only gives job satisfaction, but also benefits patient care, says portfolio pharmacist Ailsa Sharrock.
What my surgical menopause can teach pharmacists about HRT
Lucy Skea had a surgical menopause at age 39 years; here’s what she thinks pharmacists should know to support patients considering hormone replacement therapy.
I'm proud of pharmacists taking the lead on World Patient Safety Day
Barry Jubraj from the Specialist Pharmacy Service was taken aback by the range of projects pharmacy teams across the country are working on to improve patient safety.
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.
Community pharmacies will not lose out in the new contractSubscription
I write regarding Hemant Patel’s article ‘For community pharmacists, the new contract does not add up’, published in The Pharmaceutical Journal on 27 September 2019. I need to correct some inaccuracies in Patel’s narrative on the new community pharmacy contractual framework.
Wales' principles to support people to take their medicines in their homesSubscription
The All Wales Heads of Adults’ Services (AWASH) Group and NHS Wales, in collaboration with their partner organisations, have launched a set of high-level principles to encourage better medicines support for people who are receiving care at home.
Trust-wide microbiology electronic referral system supports antimicrobial stewardship Subscription
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) can be defined as the approach to promoting and monitoring judicious use of antimicrobials to preserve their future effectiveness. With demands on microbiological clinical services at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals increasing over recent years, requests for clinical advice could no longer be facilitated by a direct telephone call from clinical teams to the pathology team. Paper referral forms used by pharmacists for AMS review were no longer ...
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.
