PJ, March 2021, Vol 306, No 7947

Pharmacies could earn almost £1,000 per week through COVID-19 test distribution service

A new advanced service will see pharmacies distribute lateral flow test kits to asymptomatic patients as part of NHS Test and Trace.…

‘I want to change the perception of pharmacy’ — a day in the life of a community hospital pharmacist

Hospital pharmacist Patryk Poniatowski shares a typical day working with the multidisciplinary team at a peripheral community hospital in South Wales.…

Patients aged over 50 years to be offered free flu vaccine under expanded 2021–2022 programme

The Scottish government has also announced that community pharmacists and other independent contractors will be eligible to receive a flu vaccine next winter.…

RPS elections 2021: board members explain why members should stand

Nominations for the 2021 Royal Pharmaceutical Society national pharmacy board elections opened on 11 March 2021 and close on 1 April. The Pharmaceutical Journal asked six board members why they stood for election, and why other members should consider doing the same.…

Conflicting regulations on controlled drugs may expose pharmacists to criminal liability — the law must change

Contradictions in misuse of drugs regulations mean there are ways in which pharmacists dispensing controlled drugs could be seen to be breaking the law. Two decades after their last revision, these regulations are surely due a rethink.…

Trainee and tutor views on the introduction of a workplace-based assessment tool within the preregistration pharmacy training programme in a large teaching hospital

Preregistration pharmacy training is competency-based, where a trainee’s performance and competency is mapped against a framework of performance standards and learning outcomes outlined by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)​[1]​. Workplace-based assessment (WBA) tools are a valid and re…

Pharmacy regulator’s fitness to practise decision in ‘antisemitism’ case referred to the High Court

The Professional Standards Authority is seeking to overturn a decision made by the General Pharmaceutical Council fitness to practise committee to issue a warning to a pharmacist who made "offensive" remarks at an Al Quds Day rally.…

Successful tapering of antipsychotics could take ‘years’, say researchers

Researchers at King's College London said formal guidelines for tapering antipsychotics were needed.…

Scottish government offers 4% pay rise to NHS staff

If accepted, the pay increase will be backdated to 1 December 2020 to recognise the pressure put on staff by the COVID-19 pandemic.…

RPS Wales welcomes £100m investment in pandemic recovery

A recovery plan, published by the Welsh government, states that “developing the role of our community pharmacy in services, especially clinical services, will build on the developments we saw during the pandemic”.…