Editorial
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.
Pharmacies must be at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccination campaignSubscription
It will not be easy to deliver the huge COVID-19 vaccination programme, but there is no doubt that the profession can step up to the challenge, with community pharmacy playing a vital role.
Features
'I could barely function' – the devastating effects of long COVID
Most people recover from COVID-19 within two weeks; however, early figures suggest that around one in seven people have symptoms lasting for at least four weeks, and a smaller proportion are sick for months.
Just out of reach: why the UK must rethink its barriers to novel medicinesSubscription
The early access to medicines scheme has been running for six years, but has it had the desired impact of ensuring the sickest patients are spared the wait for the most promising treatments, or is it failing to live up to expectations?
Revealed: the generic price hikes increasing the NHS drugs billSubscription
Far from being a money saver, the generic medicines market has cost the NHS an additional £76m over the past two years.
Becoming a pharmacist: in numbersSubscription
The path to becoming part of the profession can be a rocky one for some. Here are an aspiring pharmacist’s chances at each stage of the process, based on the best available data. Would you make it now?
Comment
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.
Q&A
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.
CPD article
Opioid use in palliative care: selection, initiation and optimisationSubscription
Opioids are commonly administered as part of end-of-life care. Pharmacists should know how to select, initiate and optimise opioids to best meet patient needs.
Learning article
Understanding dispensing errors and riskSubscription
As prescription numbers continue to increase, it is necessary to understand the dispensing errors that can occur and how they may happen.
Oral candidiasis: causes, types and treatmentSubscription
Pharmacists and pharmacy teams should be able to recognise oral thrush, a common yeast infection, and provide appropriate treatment advice to resolve infections.
Research
Misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to obtain illicit highs: how pharmacists can prevent abuseSubscription
An overview of the range of medicines that are being misused, diverted, or recorded on websites reporting new trends and experimentations of drug abuse for recreational purposes and how pharmacists can detect, understand and prevent drug diversion activities and drug-misuse adverse effects.
Careers
'It motivates me to know we can make a difference to patients’ lives' – a day in the life of a medical affairs headSubscription
Domenico Curinga details a typical day leading a medical affairs team at Novartis Oncology UK.
Insight
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.
News
Public Health England to review guidance against the use of rapid COVID-19 tests in community pharmacies
Public Health England is reviewing its guidance against the use of rapid point-of-care tests for COVID-19 in community pharmacy.
Scottish Pharmacy Board meeting: 8 October 2020
The Scottish Pharmacy Board discussed work on inclusion and diversity to encourage members to stand at the national pharmacy board elections, as well as careers support and ideas around changing the structure of board meetings.
English Pharmacy Board meeting: 8 October 2020
Topics discussed at the latest English Pharmacy Board meeting included learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Action in Belonging, Culture and Diversity group and updates on education.
Welsh Pharmacy Board meeting: 8 October 2020
Discussions at the latest Welsh Pharmacy Board meeting revolved around how the Society can help promote independent prescribing pharmacists, the 2021 manifesto for the Welsh government elections and updates around science and research.
Increasing injectable medicines ten-fold could release time equivalent to 4,000 extra nurses, report saysSubscription
The production of injectable medicines in England could be increased from the current 3.4 million individual doses to more than 40 million per year.
Welsh pharmacy sore throat test and treat service ‘should not be routinely adopted’, review finds Subscription
The use of rapid antigen detection tests in community pharmacies for the diagnosis and management of people with group A streptococcal infections should not be routinely adopted, according to guidance from Health Technology Wales.
GPhC to address over-representation of BAME pharmacists in fitness-to-practise concerns in overhauled processSubscription
Reported patient safety incidents fell by almost half during COVID-19 pandemicSubscription
Reopening Nightingale hospitals will put 'incredible strain' on pharmacy teams, hospital pharmacists warn
Unlicensed flu vaccine will not be available for use until December, MHRA saysSubscription
Research briefing
Patients’ perspectives on polypharmacy are highly personal, systematic review concludesSubscription
Fremanezumab safe and effective for preventing migraine over longer term, study suggestsSubscription
Routine NSAID use not associated with poorer outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19
Cefiderocol effective for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infectionsSubscription
