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A pharmacy resolution for 2021: let's improve the way patients with addiction are treatedSubscription
There’s evidence that community pharmacy’s disrespect for people with addiction is deterring them from seeking the drug treatments designed to aid their recovery — putting them at risk of drug-related death.
Four ways to build a community pharmacy workforce fit for the futureSubscription
In the face of adversity during a global pandemic, 22 community pharmacists took their sector’s survival into their own hands. Here are the workforce demands they’re making of those at the top.
The pharmacy registration assessment must change if foundation pharmacist training is to succeedSubscription
If foundation training is to equip future pharmacists with the clinical and prescribing skills they need, the registration assessment must be held near the end of the MPharm, rather than after it, says pharmacy practice lecturer Hannah Kinsey.
Too often patient concerns over treatment are trivialised or ignored — this must endSubscription
Expert patient Andrew Taylor lost a decade of his life to crushing side effects after being prescribed steroids against his wishes, and he was only helped when healthcare professionals started to really listen.
Gillian Leng: ‘COVID-19 has been a strain, but also an opportunity’Subscription
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s new chief executive, Gillian Leng, took the helm in April 2020. She speaks to us about what lessons the organisation has taken away from the past year.
Martin Sawer: ‘On day one of Brexit, everything is going to be fine’Subscription
The executive director of the Healthcare Distribution Association is not concerned about immediate issues as soon as the Brexit transition period ends, but says there could be unforeseen knock-on effects on the availability of certain medicines.
Harpreet Chana: ‘Pharmacists put the needs of everyone before ourselves’Subscription
The founder of the Mental Wealth Academy speaks about why the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in mental health issues and how pharmacists can support each other and their patients.
Warwick Smith: ‘The pandemic has removed factors that allowed us to be resilient for Brexit’Subscription
The director general of the British Generic Manufacturers Association speaks about how manufacturers are planning to juggle Brexit with COVID-19, and what the government can do to help.
Community pharmacy will transform post-hospital care in 2021Subscription
The discharge medicines service, a new service launching in all community pharmacies in England, is set to improve transfer of care on discharge from hospital.
Pharmacy needs to do much better on valproateSubscription
Even after licensing changes, pregnant women are still being prescribed sodium valproate, meaning that foetuses are being needlessly exposed to the risks of birth defects and developmental damage. Community pharmacy needs to take the lead in preventing this.
Women to Watch 2020: what we did and why
In March of this year we launched a nationwide search to find women in the pharmacy profession who were achieving great things and deserved greater recognition.
Medical cannabis has yet to live up to the hypeSubscription
Two years since legalisation, prescribers need convincing that medical cannabis is an effective therapy option.
Pharmacists can help put an end to illicit drug deaths by being at the centre of a new non-medical use marketSubscription
Providing currently prohibited drugs through pharmacists in state-run pharmacies sounds like a radical idea, but it could be a way of improving prospects for users.
Medication in contemporary music: what precisely are our patients listening to?Subscription
Contrary to popular belief, modern music often references legitimate medications, as well as illegal substances — understanding societal beliefs around drugs can help us help our patients.
Patients are at risk of falling through gaps in anticoagulation care — but pharmacy can helpSubscription
The pandemic has brought with it big changes for patients who require anticoagulation, but pharmacists’ involvement means no patient should be overlooked, says anticoagulation pharmacist Frances Akor.
Why ‘epidrugs’ will be the next major focus for precision medicineSubscription
It is not just our genes that dictate how our bodies cope with disease and respond to drugs — by identifying the modifications to our DNA strands, and the histone proteins that regulate gene expression, we can uncover a whole new direction for diagnostic biomarkers, therapeutic biomarkers and drug targets.
We talk a lot about ‘multidisciplinary’ working, but our PCN’s COVID-19 vaccine service truly would not exist without all our professions
Sowe Valley’s rapid rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine service is testament to the value of PCN-working, says clinical pharmacist Umeh Ali.
Our pharmacy team is leading our PCN’s COVID-19 vaccination service — and it feels electric
Spirits are running high at Chesterfield and Dronfield Primary Care Network, which has given 4,500 COVID-19 vaccinations since Christmas, says lead pharmacist Isobel Bancroft.
How working at NHS Test and Trace landed me a role heading my university’s COVID-19 case management team
Pharmacist and lecturer Gurinder Singh’s pharmacy skills proved invaluable during his work as a clinical contact caseworker at NHS Test and Trace — then he was headhunted to lead the University of Reading’s COVID-19 case management team.
What I learned volunteering my pharmacy skills at a health clinic for refugees and asylum seekers
Pharmacist Laura Burley’s skills proved invaluable at a refugee camp in Samos, Greece, where she was involved in everything from counselling patients on scabies medication, to streamlining the camp clinic’s systems.
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
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.
