News | Paediatrics and neonatal

News

Valproate in pregnancy reaches lowest level yet, data suggest

Sodium valproate prescriptions for women and girls aged 12 to 54 years have almost halved since measures were introduced to reduce prescribing in April 2018.…

Published: 30 September 2025

News

Health news round-up: Huntington’s disease breakthrough and how to tackle medicines misinformation

Senior clinical reporter Joanna Robertson summarises some important developments in health news.…

Published: 26 September 2025

News

Valproate has no significant impact on male fertility, study finds

Researchers found that prior studies that linked valproate to male infertility in patients with epilepsy mainly used healthy men without epilepsy as controls.…

Published: 17 September 2025

Feature

Dialling back antibiotic prescribing in children

There has been a jump in antibiotics use in children aged under ten years in England since the COVID-19 pandemic, but pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are trying to stem the rise.…

Published: 4 September 2025

News

Pharmacies ‘likely’ to be involved in providing chickenpox vaccination programme

The measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine will become part of the routine infant vaccination schedule from January 2026.…

Published: 29 August 2025

Opinion

PJ view: Neighbourhood health will not work without stronger primary care relationships

As pharmacies prepare for another flu season, the government’s neighbourhood health vision faces a critical test: can stronger collaboration between primary care providers and better recognition of pharmacy skills ensure services grow without fuelling competition?…

Published: 29 August 2025

News

Pharmacists reduce wait for mental health medication reviews by average of five weeks

Speaking at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland Conference, Michael Mitchell said that NHS Lanarkshire placed pharmacists into its child and adolescent mental health services to “increase prescribing capacity, reduce wait times and make a difference”.…

Published: 26 August 2025

News

At-home oral antibiotics safe for newborns

The results of the six-month pilot showed that offering oral antibiotics to clinically stable, term babies could free up resources, positively impact families and lower environmental impact.…

Published: 8 August 2025

News

Number of adults prescribed ADHD medication rises by a quarter

Data from NHS Business Services Authority show that in 2024/2025, 190,000 adults in England were prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.…

Published: 25 July 2025

Opinion

It is an exciting time to be a respiratory pharmacist — and we need more of them 

Specialist respiratory pharmacists are in short supply in England and Wales, but investing in developing this workforce will show benefit for pharmacy and patients.…

Published: 12 March 2025