Editorial
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.
Features
2020: How has your year been?
As this challenging year comes to an end, we ask five members of the profession how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted their lives.
Remembering pharmacy staff who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic
As we reach a year since the first cases of COVID-19 were identified in China, we pay tribute to some of the pharmacy staff in the UK who have lost their lives to the infection.
The COVID-19 campus: MPharm studying during the pandemic Subscription
We look at how students and staff at pharmacy schools have fared during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The man and his 'illegal' van trying to fix Glasgow’s drug problemSubscription
A van providing a safe space for drug users to inject is being piloted in Glasgow but, despite backing for the idea of such a facility from the Scottish government, Westminster says that it is illegal.
2020: the year of COVID-19
This year has been dominated by a single topic. Here, we look back at an extraordinary 12 months, and an extremely challenging time for pharmacy teams.
Comment
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.
Q&A
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.
CPD article
Valproate use in women: minimising the risks Subscription
It is necessary that pharmacists and pharmacy teams ensure the safe and appropriate prescribing of valproate in line with the current Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency guidance.
Learning article
Test yourself: the 2020 CPD and learning quizSubscription
Take our quiz, with questions based on some of 2020’s best loved CPD and learning articles, and test your knowledge on a range of subjects from gene therapy to respiratory tract diseases.
Reducing risk and managing dispensing errorsSubscription
Pharmacy teams should understand how to minimise the risk and likelihood of dispensing errors, including methods that can be used to evaluate existing processes, as well as how to deal with errors if they happen.
Research
Evaluation of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust community pharmacy transfer of care around medicines serviceSubscription
This study aims to retrospectively analyse the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust community pharmacy transfer of care in medicines service to describe the type of medication-related problems identified during pharmacist consultations with patients and the services provided.
News
LloydsPharmacy nominates branches to provide COVID-19 vaccination services
LloydsPharmacy has nominated several of its community pharmacies to lead COVID-19 vaccination centres, the multiple has confirmed.
Pharmacist salaries in east of England fall by a fifth in one year, ONS figures showSubscription
Pharmacists working in the east of England area saw a 19% drop in their salaries on average this year, data from the Office for National Statistics show.
Pharmacy team first in the UK to prepare vaccination for COVID-19
The pharmacy team at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire trust has become the first in the UK to draw up a COVID-19 vaccine for clinical use.
Full roll-out of general practice-based pharmacotherapy service delayed until 2022–2023Subscription
A pharmacotherapy service, which was expected to be running in every GP practice in Scotland from April 2021, has been delayed.
Welsh pharmacies save over 35,000 GP appointments each week, audit finds Subscription
Around half of patients who received advice in Welsh pharmacies would otherwise have gone to their GP first, an audit by Community Pharmacy Wales has found.
Delayed preregistration exam must be sat in person, pharmacy regulator saysSubscription
Candidates sitting the delayed summer 2020 preregistration assessment will have to travel to an examination centre to sit the papers in person.
Inhaled corticosteroid added to COVID-19 PRINCIPLE trial
Pharmacies in Scotland to receive a further £4.5m for COVID-19 costs
Family of pharmacy technician approved for £60k COVID-19 death-in-service benefit
Guidance on off-label use of tocilizumab for UK COVID-19 patients published
Pharmacies receive up to £10 per consultation in smoking cessation pilotSubscription
Bipolar drug manufacturer proposes continuing supply of Priadel for five years under newly agreed pricesSubscription
Pharmacist-led atrial fibrillation case finding programme prevents an estimated 90 strokesSubscription
Pharmacy multiples suspend online flu vaccine booking owing to ‘unprecedented demand’Subscription
England has lowest number of community pharmacies in five years, figures showSubscription
Narcolepsy medicine linked to increased risk of birth defects, warns medicines regulatorSubscription
Falsified Medicines Directive will close in Great Britain at the end of 2020Subscription
Research briefing
Consistent use of statins linked to reduced risk of cancer deathSubscription
Patients taking placebo and statins experience similar side effects Subscription
Warfarin use linked to increased risk of knee and hip replacementSubscription
Polypill with aspirin cuts heart attacks and strokes by almost a third, study suggestsSubscription
IV antibiotics no more effective than oral for eradicating infection in cystic fibrosis patients, study suggestsSubscription
