PJ, January 2019, Vol 302, No 7921

First hospital pharmacist to decommission under FMD warns of flaw in system

The pharmacist thought to be the first person to decommission a medicine under the Falsified Medicines Directive in the UK has warned that the system could be ‘undermined’ by medicine packets that carry FMD hardware, but are not registered with the national medicines verification sy…

Deaths: Brenda Mary Ecclestone

On 15 December 2018, Brenda Mary Ecclestone, aged 84 years, of Stroud, Gloucestershire. Mrs Ecclestone registered with the Society in 1957 and left in 2018. Mrs Ecclestone was the only child of Irvine, also a pharmacist, and Mary Smith. She worked with her father in Halifax after qualifying in 1954…

Calculation questions in the preregistration exam must be fair and reflect real-world practice

Over the past 20 years I have supported preregistration students, particularly with calculations in the preregistration exam. One advantage of the old multiple-choice question style was that the answer was given in the correct format with the correct units. In the new style of question, assistance i…

BPSA president steps down owing to ‘conflicting priorities’

The president of the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association, Junel Ahmed, has stepped down from his role with immediate effect.…

Deaths: David Ernest Philip Jones

On 26 December 2018, David Ernest Philip Jones MRPharmS, aged 68 years, of Hereford. Mr Jones registered with the Society in 1972. Mr Jones’s career spanned three sectors of pharmacy, and for twenty years he was chief pharmacist of Hereford County Hospital.…

DHSC puts plans for recognition of qualifications in no-deal Brexit before parliament

The Department of Health and Social Care has put before parliament amendments to legislation that will allow the qualifications of pharmacists from the EU to be recognised in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.…

Pharmacists recognised in 2019 New Year’s Honours list

Three pharmacists and two former pharmacists have been recognised in the UK government’s 2019 New Year’s Honours list.…

Mark Lyonette: ‘You can only push people so far’

The chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association on meeting the health secretary, preparations for Brexit and whether the pressures on pharmacy are affecting patient safety.…

More than half of women think emergency contraception should switch to OTC, poll reveals

Emergency contraception should be made available over the counter without the need for a pharmacist consultation, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service has said.…

Pharmacists should become ‘patient safety specialists’ under new NHS safety plan

NHS Improvement has suggested pharmacists take on the role of “patient safety specialists” as part of its new national safety strategy.…