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The next few months are set to bring both progress and change for the health sector, which include the NHS England workforce plan and testing for a prototype single national formulary set to launch in June 2026, a new post-qualification prescribing support pathway to follow in autumn 2026 and the initial stages of a single patient record to be rolled out within the next two years.
However, following health secretary Wes Streeting’s resignation on 14 May 2026, community pharmacy leaders have warned against the impact of “more uncertainty” on a sector still waiting for the ‘Community pharmacy contractual framework’ for 2026/2027; although, they have pledged to work with the new health secretary.
Read on for more health news you might have missed this week.
Paternal, maternal and neonatal health
There is “no evidence” that children born to fathers treated with valproate are at increased risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and ADHD, the results of a review and meta-analysis show.
The findings of a separate systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet Psychiatry has suggested that there is no significant link between maternal and paternal antidepressant use before and during pregnancy and autism / ADHD in children. Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the review “provides further evidence-based reassurance that antidepressant use during pregnancy is not associated with ADHD or autism in children”.
“At least one in five women experience mental health problems during pregnancy or in the first year after birth and the consequences of untreated depression can be devastating,” she said.
According to new national guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, babies on intravenous antibiotics after birth will be able to go home sooner, as they can be switched to a liquid oral antibiotic and complete the course at home, if they were born after 35 weeks, are stable, test negative for infection, are feeding well and responding as expected to treatment.
Further reading
New pharmacogenomics guideline for clozapine
On 13 May 2026, the UK Centre of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation in Pharmacogenomics (CERSI-PGx) published its guideline on ACKR1/Duffy-null genotype testing for clozapine.
It recommends pre-emptive testing for all people starting clozapine, testing for people registered in the Central Non-Rechallenge Database and reactive testing following a below-threshold blood result.
The guideline also suggests that people with the Duffy-null genotype should be monitored using revised white blood cell count/absolute neutrophil count thresholds for ADAN (ACKR1/DARC-associated neutropenia).
The first year of testing could identify 129 people with the Duffy-null genotype, which could result in savings ranging between £42,732–£727,990, researchers said.
Further reading
Obesity research presented at European Congress
The 33rd European Congress on Obesity (ECO), held in Istanbul this week, brought announcements on obesity drugs, including findings from orforglipron and lower-dose tirzepatide trials, which show that both drugs could be used to maintain weight loss after higher-dose injectable incretin therapies.
The results of another trial presented at the conference suggested that rapid weight loss is much more effective than gradual weight loss in achieving and sustaining clinically meaningful weight loss.
In addition, the findings of a nationwide study from Denmark presented at the conference revealed a sex-specific impact of semaglutide on migraine treatment, with women demonstrating an 8% reduction in triptan use and men showing no significant change.
Also during the conference, obesity and dietitian societies issued a joint consensus statement on the use of obesity drugs for weight-loss treatment, which highlighted the role of dieticians in medical nutritional therapy, psychological vulnerabilities that may exist around weight loss, the need to monitor body composition and functional capacity, the importance of physical activity and exercise, and socioeconomic factors that should be considered.
