Top ten most popular opinion articles of 2019

The Pharmaceutical Journal wasn’t short of strong views this year — whether it was a criticism of clinical guidance or a defence of the pharmacy profession.

Here are the opinions that resonated most with you in 2019:

10. The BBC has got it wrong: we are not ‘GP substitutes’

In January 2019, the BBC reported on NHS England’s plan to recruit 20,000 physiotherapists, paramedics and pharmacists. But by describing these healthcare professionals as ‘GP substitutes’, the BBC did little other than diminish patients’ trust in them, argued clinical pharmacist Tom Gregory.

9. We must declare Scotland’s drug deaths a public health emergency

More people are dying from drug-related causes in Scotland than anywhere else in the EU, but the government seems loath to recognise the tragedy, said Carole Hunter, lead pharmacist, alchohol and drug services, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

8. Why patients are still being denied legalised medical cannabis

The contentious drug was legalised for medical use in November 2018, but hospital trust bureaucracy and doctor ignorance mean few patients are yet to reap its benefits, commented Mike Barnes, consultant neurologist and honorary professor of neurological rehabilitation, Newcastle University.

7. My pharmacy preregistration training provider wasn’t up to scratch

Diba Keyhanfar had a challenging preregistration experience, but her bumpy year made her the flexible locum pharmacist she is today.

6. Pharmacists must embrace pharmacogenetic services before other professions beat them to it

Genetic testing services will help patients receive more targeted medicines, and pharmacists are the most obvious healthcare profession to lead them, argued Dyfrig Hughes, pharmacogenetics champion for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

5. UK asthma mortality is too high, but pharmacy can help

Too many deaths from asthma could have been prevented with the right medicines, and pharmacists must make sure patients get them, said Darush Attar-Zadeh, respiratory lead pharmacist, Barnet Clinical Commissioning Group.

4. Personalising treatment for type 2 diabetes: why is NICE so behind?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s rudimentary approach to managing diabetes must catch up with the available evidence and put patients centre stage, argued Samuel Seidu and Kamlesh Khunti from the Leicester Diabetes Centre.

3. Should pharmacy sell e-cigarettes and encourage people to vape?

Louise Ross, clinical consultant, National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, and Nicola J Gray, independent pharmacist researcher, went head-to-head in the debate over pharmacy’s place in vaping.

2. Brexit is not the only reason for medicines shortages

Medicines shortages are not directly caused by the UK’s expected exit from the EU, but Brexit is distracting Westminster from giving the issue the attention it needs, The Pharmaceutical Journal said in its editorial.

1. My horrific encounter with ‘fitness to practise’

Sarah Seddon shared her agonising experience of acting as a witness in her midwife’s fitness-to-practise hearing; the regulatory process dehumanises those it seeks to protect and it must drastically change.

Still popular from 2018

5. Why we need to legalise cannabis for medical use in the UK

4. Person-centred over patient-centred care: not just semantics

3. Moving from retail to industry: a letter to all pharmacists

2. Ignorance is not bliss: why we need more empowered patients

1. Beyond cannabis: why we should look at legalising other illegal drugs for medical use to benefit patients

Got a view? Get in touch at abigail.james@rpharms.com and let’s talk about how you can share it.