PJ, August 2024, Vol 313, No 7988

Pharmacists should have right to choose whether to be involved in assisted dying, says RPS

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland wants to ensure that pharmacists are not compelled to support the assisted dying process if they have moral, ethical or religious objections to it.…

Opioids stewardship: an opportunity for community pharmacy

Opioid prescribing is a necessary component of post-operative pain management but carries a risk of misuse and dependency formation1. Community pharmacists are uniquely placed to contribute to effective opioid stewardship2. We previously reported on potentially valuable entries on PharmO…

What will it take to fix pharmacy’s stubbornly unchanged ethnicity pay gap?

The Pharmaceutical Journal’s latest survey data show ethnic minority pharmacists continue to be paid less than their white colleagues.…

IT system for independent prescribing pathfinder programme ready for rollout, says NHS England

More than 200 community pharmacy pathfinder sites across England can now start to use the new electronic prescribing system for the Independent Prescribing in Community Pharmacy Pathfinder Programme.…

Government opens £400m investment programme to boost UK clinical trials

The investment programme will increase the UK’s capacity for clinical trials and give researchers greater access to the latest equipment and technology, the government said.…

Pharmacists start more than 8,500 patients on contraception since service launch

The service includes the initiation of oral contraception in community pharmacies via a patient group direction.…

Encouraging more pharmacists to become DPPs

By setting up a London-wide training project that used case studies of training scenarios from different healthcare settings, Puja Nathwani was able to help 120 non-medical prescribers on their way to becoming designated prescribing practitioners.…

Pharmacist-led trial to assess impact of outreach on homeless people secures government funding

Under the programme, pharmacists and third sector homelessness workers offer outreach to address health and social care needs in people experiencing homelessness.…

Health psychology and advanced communication skills for prescribers

An introduction to the principles of health psychology that can be applied during consultations with patients.…

Psilocybin may be as effective as escitalopram in treating depression, study suggests

A meta-analysis has found similar effectiveness of psilocybin compared with escitalopram in the treatment of depression, but the study does have limitations.…