Sophie Willis

Investigations editor

Government to set up 20 research hubs with £100m VPAG investment

The new commercial research delivery centres place clinical trials into community settings to enable under-served regions to improve their participation in research.…

Government plans for 2.8% pay uplift for hospital pharmacy staff

Unite the Union described the pay increase an “insult”, saying the NHS will not remedy its recruitment and retention crisis without tackling the issue of restorative pay.…

NICE recommends alternative corticosteroid for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

The guidance says that vamorolone reduces “adverse events” that are tied to other currently available corticosteroids, which include osteoporosis, weight gain and delayed puberty.…

Manufacturer offers NHS £23m in response to investigation into misleading claims about rival treatment

Vifor Pharma has also agreed to write to healthcare professionals to “correct any potentially misleading communications regarding the safety of Monofer and Ferinject”.…

Access to PrEP from community pharmacies could be piloted from autumn 2025

Exclusive: The Welsh government said it would explore pharmacist involvement in a pilot scheme designed to improve access to pre-exposure prophylaxis in the community.…

Community pharmacies have administered more than 8,000 RSV vaccines in east of England

Exclusive: NHS England has said that 8,187 respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations have been delivered between October and November 2024 across 37 community pharmacies in Essex and Suffolk.…

Community pharmacies administered more than half of all COVID-19 vaccines to people from ethnic minorities, data show

According to the Company Chemists’ Association, data from the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme show that more vaccinations should be commissioned from pharmacies to increase vaccine uptake, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.…

NHS England seeks views on centralising flu vaccine procurement

NHS England says it wants to hear evidence of the benefits and challenges of a centralised procurement model in order to improve the effectiveness of the delivery of the flu vaccination programme.…

Pfizer and Flynn Pharma fined £69m for ‘excessive’ pricing of epilepsy drug

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has upheld the Competition and Markets Authority's 2016 decision that Pfizer and its distributor Flynn “were gouging the market” when the pricing of phenytoin sodium capsules resulted in costs to the NHS increasing from £2m in 2012 to around £50m in 2013.…

BMA conference considers proposal to scrap community pharmacy blood pressure checks

The motion proposed by the Devon Local Medical Committee describes “wastefulness” of money spent on pharmacy blood pressure checks, which it says should instead fund pharmacy dispensing fees.…