PJ, December 2019, Vol 303, No 7932

Before the dawn: the tough regulatory climate holding back insomnia relief

A new class of sleep medicines, could provide relief for people living with insomnia, but pharmaceutical companies are struggling to bring them to the market.…

Governments must make tackling AMR worth pharmacy’s while

Pharmaceutical companies won’t develop fast, cheap and effective diagnostic tools on their own — incentives are the missing piece to tackling antimicrobial resistance.…

Pharmacists able to dispense antivirals at earliest point in flu season for five years

The government has given pharmacists permission to dispense antiviral medicines at the expense of the NHS, in response to an increase in flu cases.…

Scaling new career heights in 2020

We asked some of this year’s contributors to The Pharmaceutical Journal’s Careers section to recap their biggest career highlights of 2019 and share their goals for the coming year.…

Calls for emergency contraception to be available without a pharmacist consultation

Emergency contraception should be available over the counter without the need for a consultation with a pharmacist, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has said.…

Fewer than half of pharmacists issue warning cards for patients using valproate

Only 40% of pharmacists are meeting a patient safety requirement when dispensing valproate to women, an audit carried out by the Company Chemists’ Association has found.…

Pharmacists working in general practice increase by more than 40% in one year

The number of pharmacists working in general practice has increased by 41% in the year between September 2018 and September 2019, figures from NHS Digital have shown.…

Scotland’s first heroin-assisted treatment service launched in Glasgow

Scotland’s first heroin-assisted treatment service has launched in Glasgow city centre. However, a pharmacist involved in designing the service has said a drug consumption room is needed to run alongside it. …

More than half of acute trusts are failing to reduce their use of antibiotics

More than half of acute trusts in England failed to reduce their antibiotic use between 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, according to figures analysed by The Pharmaceutical Journal.…

Secrets of success: the hospitals slashing their antibiotic use

Despite the rise of resistant infections, national figures show that antibiotic use continues to grow in hospitals. However, some trusts in England are stepping up their stewardship efforts and achieving significant reductions. Here, three trusts share the secrets to their success.…