Graham Clews

News and Views Editor

Graham Clews is News and Views Editor at The Pharmaceutical Journal.

More than half of hospital trusts exceed target to discharge patients to community pharmacies, says government

The Department of Health and Social Care said 52% of NHS trusts have referred more than 1.5% of patients to community pharmacies through the Discharge Medicines Service.…

Community pharmacies to supply free COVID-19 tests to at-risk groups

Eligible patients will be able to collect lateral flow device test kits from community pharmacies that have signed up to provide the service.…

Asian and black pharmacists overrepresented in fitness-to-practise concerns, GPhC finds

The General Pharmaceutical Council has analysed data on fitness-to-practise concerns and found that all ethnicities other than white pharmacists were overrepresented.…

NHS England to commission evaluation of community pharmacy clinical services

The evaluation will be used to help NHS England “make effective decisions regarding clinical services for the future community pharmacy sector”.…

Government treated pharmacists with ‘double standards’ during COVID-19 pandemic, RPS tells inquiry

Community pharmacists were initially not included in a life assurance scheme for healthcare staff, excluded from a national PPE ordering system, and not included in a visa extension scheme.…

PSA writes to health secretary to ‘raise concerns’ over GPhC’s fitness-to-practise timeliness

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the GPhC, said it was “an absolute priority” for it to resolve fitness-to-practise cases “in a timely way”.…

Half of hospital trusts require staff to have training on time-critical medication, charity finds

Parkinson's UK, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and other healthcare bodies have called on the government to ensure NHS trusts have policies in place to enable patients to receive their medicines on time.…

Welsh government backs RPS Wales plan to transform hospital pharmacy

The Welsh government has accepted all 36 recommendations made by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Wales in a review of hospital pharmacy in the country.…

Hydrocortisone manufacturers to be fined almost £130m after tribunal upholds ruling

The Competition and Markets Authority said NHS spending on hydrocortisone tablets rose from £0.5m per year to over £80m.…

Pharmacist given warning as committee in second fitness-to-practise case rules remarks were antisemitic

The General Pharmaceutical Council’s fitness-to-practise committee issued Nazim Hussain Ali with a warning for a second time over remarks he made at an Al Quds Day rally, after its initial decision was quashed by the High Court.…