PJ, January 2020, Vol 304, No 7933

A cloud of doubt over the sunshine vitamin

Negative results in trials of vitamin D supplementation have led researchers to question the best way of reaching those who are deficient.…

Pharmacists can help patients get the most out of their vitamin D supplements

I was delighted to read Lisa Jamieson’s opinion piece ‘‘It’s not just medicines that improve health — pharmacists need a better understanding of nutrition’. Jamieson is quite right to call on pharmacy educators to emphasise the importance of nutrition in hea…

Postnatal depression: recognition and diagnosis

Pharmacists are likely to encounter patients affected by postnatal depression; therefore, the ability to identify signs of this under-recognised disorder is essential for appropriate and prompt referral for help and support.…

GPhC proposes 40% increase in annual pharmacy registration costs

The General Pharmaceutical Council is consulting on whether to increase annual registration fees for pharmacy premises by £103 from October 2020.…

Half of NHS trusts outsource outpatient pharmacy services to avoid VAT

Half of NHS trusts now outsource their outpatient pharmacies in an effort to save on tax, according to NHS figures, despite union leaders saying this practice is detrimental to staff pay.…

Hospital pharmacist time spent on clinical activities stalls at 75%

Hospital pharmacists spent around 75% of their time on clinical pharmacy work in 2019 — a slight drop on the previous year.…

Pharmacy flu vaccine uptake tops previous year’s figure with three months to go

Almost 1.5 million flu vaccines have been administered under the community pharmacy flu vaccination service in the 2019/2020 winter season, according to the latest statistics from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.…

Number of preregistration pharmacists increases by 60% in one year

A record number of pharmacy graduates in Wales have taken up preregistration placements for the year 2020/2021, the government has said.…

Pharmacy apprenticeships paused again to address ‘misconceptions’

Development of a proposed pharmacy degree apprenticeship has been paused for a second time to allow “misconceptions” to be addressed, according to a statement issued on behalf of the trailblazer group behind the proposals.…

GP-based pharmacist interventions cut cardiovascular risk factors

Pharmacist-led interventions in GP practices can successfully reduce risk factors for cardiovascular events, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology has suggested.…