News | Minor ailments

News

NHS tenders contract to train 500 supervisors for independent prescribing pharmacists

The contract follows warnings of a shortage of designated prescribing practitioners to supervise pharmacists who are training to become independent prescribers.…

Published: 31 March 2023

News

Cough medicine with anaphylaxis risk to be removed from UK market, MHRA announces

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it was withdrawing pholcodine-containing medicines from the UK market as a "precautionary measure", owing to the risk of anaphylaxis during general anaesthesia.…

Published: 14 March 2023

Opinion

Taiwo Owatemi: ‘Pharmacists should be able to refer patients straight to secondary care’

Labour MP and locum pharmacist Taiwo Owatemi shares her views on how to handle pressures on the NHS and why the government is dragging its feet with England’s ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme.…

Published: 8 March 2023

News

Campaign to encourage pharmacy use ‘irresponsible and extremely unhelpful’, says negotiator

NHS England's 'Help Us Help You' campaign will use film themes to encourage people to visit community pharmacies for minor illnesses.…

Published: 27 February 2023

Feature

Antibiotic resistance: is it time to get serious about point-of-care testing?

There is solid evidence from other countries that point-of-care testing before prescribing antibiotics for respiratory tract and other infections helps to combat antimicrobial resistance, but experts say the UK is far behind.…

Published: 23 February 2023

News

MHRA to review evidence of harm linked to pseudoephedrine-containing medicines

Exclusive: A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has told The Pharmaceutical Journal that it is "reviewing available evidence" to decide whether marketing authorisations for pseudoephedrine-containing medicines need to change.…

Published: 21 February 2023

Opinion

How COVID-19 affected pharmacy supply of antibiotics for uncomplicated urinary tract infections

Learnings from a community pharmacy patient group direction service for the management of suspected urinary tract infections, which identified prescribing patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Published: 20 February 2023

News

Pharmacies report three-fold increase in patients seeking emergency medicine

A Welsh health board has reported a 345% increase in the number of people seeking emergency medicine in December 2022, compared with the same month in 2021.…

Published: 30 January 2023

News

Codeine linctus would qualify for reclassification to a prescription-only medicine, minutes reveal

Exclusive: The Commission on Human Medicines concluded that, owing to evidence of incorrect use and abuse of codeine linctus, it meets a criterion for reclassification to a prescription-only medicine.…

Published: 18 January 2023

Feature

When will England get a ‘Pharmacy First’ service?

Even though details are yet to be announced, a national minor ailments scheme may be on the cards for England. Here is a summary of what we know so far.…

Published: 10 January 2023