Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD): how it will workSubscription
The Falsified Medicines Directive will be rolled out in Europe from February 2019 to address the threat of fake medicines and will impact the entire supply chain
Editorial
Vaping comes out of the smoking closetSubscription
Public Health England has called on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to expedite the licensing of e-cigarettes as medicinal stop-smoking aids.
Buying the public's trustSubscription
Launch of major campaign to encourage people to use community pharmacy and pharmacists as a frontline clinical service did not go entirely as planned
Comment
Pharmacy is on the upSubscription
Despite its challenges, pharmacy has made great progress in the last year and the next 12 months promise to be no less eventful.
Q&A
Pharmacists need to be on board with falsified medicines directiveSubscription
With less than a year to go, The Pharmaceutical Journal catches up with Raj Patel, chair of the UK falsified medicine directive working group for community pharmacy, and board member of SecurMed UK, the organisation implementing the medicines verification system in the UK
Books and Arts
Applying pharmacokinetics to clinical practiceSubscription
Clinical pharmacokinetics, 6th edition, edited by John E Murphy
How gut bacteria affect our overall health and wellbeingSubscription
The clever guts diet: how to revolutionise your body from the inside out, by Michael Mosley
Learning article
How to recognise and respond to potential child abuse and neglectSubscription
In October 2017, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance to support health and social care professionals in recognising and responding to abuse and neglect in young people aged under 18 years. Pharmacists and pharmacy teams should be aware of their roles and responsibilities as outlined in this guidance.
How to support people with aphasia with medicines optimisationSubscription
Aphasia is a communication disability, most often caused by stroke, which occurs when the language centres of the brain are damaged. Pharmacists and healthcare professionals should be aware of how the communication needs of people with aphasia vary based on the severity of the condition, and how they can best provide support with medicines optimisation.
Careers
Pharmacy conferences: to attend or not attend?Subscription
Pharmacy conferences can be a good way to deepen your connection to pharmacy but it is important to be selective
Helping respiratory patients breathe easySubscription
Sometimes as pharmacists we undervalue what impact we can have and how much patients appreciate our skills, says Lucy Lelliott.
How Nuala Hampson promotes the role of pharmacists working in general practiceSubscription
Working in general practice has allowed me to develop my clinical knowledge and medicines management skills, says Nuala Hampson.
News
NHS England launches major campaign to promote the use of community pharmacy
NHS England has launched one of the biggest campaigns to encourage people to use pharmacies
EMA sets out new measures to avoid risk from valproate in pregnancy
All women of childbearing age prescribed the drug valproate — which has been linked to foetal abnormalities — will have to take part in a pregnancy prevention programme
GPhC to consult on education and training of pharmacist independent prescribers
General Pharmaceutical Council will open consultation in March and proposes three key changes to education and training standards
Gluten-free prescribing limited to bread and flour mixes
Patients who are allergic to gluten will now only be able to be prescribed gluten-free bread and flour mixes
Integration fund to pay for pharmacist medicine optimisation posts in care homes
Announcement of 180 pharmacist and 60 pharmacy technician posts to improve medicines optimisation in care homes
E-cigarettes should be available on prescription, Public Health England says
There is now “compelling evidence” that NHS patients would benefit, new review shows
First pharmacy-based automated needle exchange opens in Lincolnshire
Five pharmacists suspended as MHRA ups investigations into NHS drugs appearing on black market
Community pharmacist independent prescribers can play key role in GP practices, pilot finds
Pharmacists should have a formal role in managing drug recovery patients, Scottish MSPs told
Online programme recommended by NICE for adults with depression
Government has commissioned external analysis of Brexit impact on UK medicines supply chain, MPs told
One in four sexual health clinics in England now participating in PrEP trial
Boots appoints mobile phone chain boss as new managing director
Fewer regulators would simplify healthcare oversight, says the RPS
Homeopaths launch campaign to "save homeopathy on the NHS"
Community pharmacists urged to watch for radicalisation among colleagues
EMA recommends seven new medicines for approval across the EU
News in brief
GPhC reassures pharmacy professionals as government orders review of medical malpractice
Review ordered after trainee paediatrician struck off following death of six-year-old boy from sepsis
EMA admits temporary Amsterdam home 'not optimal solution'
Initial plans for a temporary building to house the European Medicines Agency after it moves to Amsterdam have been shelved after it was concluded that the intended accommodation was not “fully fit for purpose”
PHE supports use of trivalent flu vaccine in older people to reduce hospitalisations
New Public Health England guidance says using adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine in older people would reduce GP consultations and hospitalisations
WHO publishes first AMR surveillance report
The World Health Organization has published its first Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) report.
Urgent medicine pharmacy service prevents a quarter of patients from going without drugs
Just under one in four patients would have gone without their medicine if a pharmacist had not supplied it via the NHS Urgent Medicines Supply Advanced Service
Taking herbal medicines alongside prescription drugs may cause adverse drug interactions
Herbal remedies, such as St John’s wort, green tea and ginseng, may affect the properties of prescription drugs, according to research published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
