PJ, July 2016, Vol 297, No 7891

A solution to the skill gap in pharmacy technical services

Those of us working in pharmacy technical services know how difficult recruitment can be. Most newly registered pharmacists choose clinical or community roles and we are left with the problem of where our future workforce will come from. In 2013, a survey attempted to obtain some real data abo…

Working together to serve the interests of pharmacists in Scotland

Ailsa Power, associate postgraduate pharmacy dean at NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and vice chair of the RPS Scottish Pharmacy Board, talks to Julia Robinson about how NES and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society are working together to support Scotland’s 4,500 pharmacists. …

Deaths: Joanna Ruth Lumb

On 14 July 2016, Joanna Ruth Lumb FRPharmS, aged 63, of Wandsworth, London. Lumb registered with the Society in 1974 and was made a Fellow in 2001. She joined The Pharmaceutical Journal as a subeditor in 1976, was appointed assistant editor in 1984 and, between 1987 and 2000, she…

Deaths: Kirit Patel

On 16 July 2016, Kirit Patel FRPharmS, aged 66, of Croydon, Surrey. Mr Patel registered with the Society in 1974 and was made a Fellow in 2002. He was the co-founder and chief executive of the Day Lewis group, a company consisting of more than 250 pharmacies in the UK, which he set up in 1975 with h…

Kirit Patel, ‘giant of independent community pharmacy’, dies aged 66 years

Kirit Patel, co-founder and chief executive of the Day Lewis Group of high street pharmacies, has died suddenly on 16 July 2016 at the age of 66 years.…

Pharmacy technical services: what it involves and who can work in this area

Pharmacy technical services include aseptic dispensing and preparation, production, radiopharmacy and quality assurance and control. Jennifer Richardson finds out why the role is so vital and rewarding.…

Fresh evidence points to a cause and possible treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyelitis, has been largely dismissed as psychological. But recent trials of antiviral and immunosuppressant drugs have yielded encouraging results, suggesting a complex disease mechanism at play that researchers are hopeful they might be able to treat.…

RPS publishes updated competency framework for all prescribers across UK

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has published an updated competency framework for all prescribers on behalf of, and in collaboration with, all the prescribing professions in the UK.…

Jeremy Hunt will continue in health secretary role

Jeremy Hunt will remain as health secretary, contrary to speculation in the media on 14 July 2016 that new UK prime minister Theresa May had ousted him from the post as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Hunt, who is the longest serving health secretary in UK politics history at three years and 305 …

FDA approves first OTC retinoid for acne

The first retinoid acne treatment to be made available over the counter in the United States has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.…