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Opinion

How a GP referral scheme improved hypertension detection in community pharmacy

Primary care pharmacist Gurvinder Najran shares the outcomes from an initiative in Dudley, West Midlands, aimed at improving hypertension detection by referring patients from general practice to community pharmacy.…

Published: 4 December 2024

News

RPS raises concerns after draft HIV guidance recommends unregulated website for purchasing PrEP

The guidance suggests options to patients who are unable or unwilling to access PrEP on the NHS and calls for community pharmacies to “support greater equity” in accessing the drug.…

Published: 2 December 2024

News

Autumn budget could result in £200m additional annual costs for community pharmacies, finds analysis

Pharmacy bodies have called on the government to offset costs for community pharmacies related to increases in employers' national insurance contributions and the national living wage as it has done with the NHS.…

Published: 29 November 2024

News

GPs back proposal to scrap community pharmacy blood pressure checks

The motion aimed to address community pharmacies’ unfair expectation to seek funding from schemes such as blood pressure checks “due to underfunding of their core national contract”.…

Published: 28 November 2024

Opinion

Patient communication will be essential for successful collective action

In this month’s health policy column, Andy Cowper outlines how pharmacies participating in the National Pharmacy Association’s advisory collective action can make their point to the government while keeping patients on side.…

Published: 27 November 2024

News

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.…

Published: 27 November 2024

News

Trade association for OTC manufacturers launches series of case studies to promote self-care

The Proprietary Association of Great Britain’s self-care compendium is aimed to encourage use of community pharmacy and reduce the burden of minor ailments on integrated care systems.…

Published: 21 November 2024

News

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.…

Published: 20 November 2024

Opinion

Bruce Warner: ‘Medicines shortages will never go away, but the situation can be improved’

The chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s advisory group on medicines shortages discusses the causes of medicines shortages and how the issue can be improved.…

Published: 20 November 2024

News

Vapes to be used in community pharmacy smoking cessation pilot

A Kent-based community pharmacy smoking cessation pilot has been launched “in response to the government's ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030”.…

Published: 19 November 2024