Features
‘A blessing and a curse’: the struggle to introduce e-prescribingSubscription
NHS England has set an ambitious target to be paperless by 2024, a major part of which is implementing electronic prescribing and medicines administration systems in hospitals. Although progress is being made, there remain challenges to overcome.
High street multiples take on the digital pharmacy revolution Subscription
Despite lagging behind their distance-selling counterparts in online dispensing, the digital revolution in community pharmacy may still be led by the top four high street pharmacy chains.
Inside Pharmacy2USubscription
From controversial marketing campaigns to fears that its vast dispensing facilities will quash high street pharmacy businesses, Pharmacy2U’s rise has not gone unnoticed.
Editorial
Pharmacy access to full patient records is more critical than everSubscription
Pharmacists must be given full access to patient records to enable them to expand their role in the health service and provide better patient care.
The bar must not be lowered for medical cannabisSubscription
There have been calls to loosen regulations around medical cannabis to increase access for those who need it, but the government must resist and view cannabis with the same scrutiny as any other new medicine.
Comment
The big debate: is online dispensing a threat?Subscription
The inevitable Amazonification of community pharmacy offers community pharmacy businesses an opportunity to grow, but do online pharmacies put patients’ health and the sector’s very existence at risk? Two pharmacy experts weigh in.
Learning article
Aspergillosis: causes, types and treatmentSubscription
Aspergillus-related disease is rare, but results in high mortality rates. The limited treatment options and emerging antifungal drug resistance mean that accurate diagnosis and management is paramount.
How to improve antifungal stewardshipSubscription
Selecting appropriate antifungal therapies and performing ongoing reviews of these therapies can help support antifungal stewardship efforts and help reduce antifungal resistance.
How to understand and interpret clinical dataSubscription
This resource, part of the acute pain learning series, has been developed to help pharmacists understand the quality of evidence from clinical data to inform the advice they give to patients.
Obituary
Peter Hylands (1946–2019) Subscription
News
Community pharmacy contract funding frozen at £2.59bn for next five years
Community pharmacies in England are set to receive £13bn over the next five years under the latest national contract, with a planned spend of £2.59bn each year.
Category M prices to increase by £15m per month from August 2019, announces PSNC
Category M reimbursement prices are to increase by £15m a month from August 2019, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has announced following discussions with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Boots and PDA Union sign their first voluntary recognition agreement
The Pharmacists’ Defence Association Union has signed its first voluntary recognition agreement with Boots
GPhC sees 15% rise in concerns raised about registrants in 2018/2019
The General Pharmaceutical Council has seen a 15% year-on-year increase in the number of complaints it has received about pharmacists on the register.
Pharmacy2U could provide up to 3,000 telephone NMS appointments each month
Online pharmacy Pharmacy2U has said it will start to deliver the new medicine service in the coming months, estimating that it could provide up to 3,000 telephone appointments each month.
GPhC set to confirm it will require universities to offer integrated pharmacy programmes
The General Pharmaceutical Council has said it is likely to move forward with proposals requiring pharmacy schools to offer integrated programmes of “study and practical experience”.
GPhC given powers to resolve fitness to practise cases without a full hearing
Pharmacists advised to check legal status of CBD products before supply or risk indemnity breach
Royal college to rewrite policy that said pharmacists should only treat new A&E patients when the case relates to medicine
RPS asks Home Office for guidance on THC levels in cannabidiol oil
NHS restricts routine prescription of a further seven items in primary care
Boots to close 200 stores
Express ferry service for medicines to be introduced as government ramps up no-deal Brexit planning
John Nuttall to retire as chief executive of Well Pharmacy
Anticholinergic medicines associated with increased risk of dementia, UK study finds
Around 20 million GP appointments could be transferred to community pharmacy, says NHS England primary care boss
Single-click access to patient records for pharmacists officially launched
PCNs will be 'required' to involve community pharmacy from April 2020, says NHS England
Electronic prescribing does not prevent most harmful paediatric prescribing errors, study finds
