PJ, April 2021, Vol 306, No 7948

Evaluating ‘Pharmacy4mums2B’ — a pilot community pharmacy service for women planning a pregnancy, pregnant women and mothers with young children in North West London

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author’s. If you would like to submit a letter to The Pharmaceutical Journal, please click here. Community pharmacies are often the first port of call for women planning a pregnancy, pregnant women and mothers with children up to the age of…

‘Urgent’ need to address community pharmacists’ mental health, says NHS Practitioner Health director

Exclusive: Dame Clare Gerada has said community pharmacists are “at risk of being missed out” by the mental health support on offer for healthcare professionals.…

Scottish Labour pledges to increase pharmacy training places in election manifesto

Ahead of Scotland's parliament election on 6 May 2021, the Scottish Labour Party said it would increase training places for pharmacists to “implement better planning of the multidisciplinary team”.…

Lesley Ann McKenna (1965–2021)

On 25 April 2021, Lesley Ann McKenna, aged 56 years, of Glasgow. Mrs McKenna registered with the Society in 1988.…

‘We are all fighting something’ — shattering the silence on hidden disabilities in pharmacy (audio)

In this podcast, we look at the problems pharmacists with a hidden disability face and what the profession can do to be a more inclusive place.…

Cochrane review finds ‘urgent shortage’ of evidence around safe withdrawal from antidepressants

Researchers said that, owing to a lack of studies on discontinuing long-term antidepressants, they could not make firm conclusions about the effects and safety of the approaches studied to date.…

Pharmacist interventions can improve medication safety for older care home residents, study finds

A pioneering study has synthesised evidence of the effectiveness of pharmacist-led interventions to reduce adverse drug events in older people living in care homes.…

Welsh Conservative Party makes new community pharmacy contract election pledge

The Conservative Party manifesto, published ahead of the Senedd elections on 6 May 2021, promises to expand the role of community pharmacy under a new contract.…

Fatal mistakes: why do ten-fold medication errors in children keep happening?

This feature explores the issue of ten-fold medication errors in children — currently the subject of a national investigation — and what could be done to eliminate them once and for all.…

What is ‘chronic primary pain’ and why is NICE guidance on it causing controversy?

New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has defined pain with no identifiable underlying cause as ‘chronic primary pain‘, but there are concerns the guideline could adversely affect patient care.…