PJ, March 2024, Vol 312, No 7983

Free over-the-counter medicine scheme to support patients in cost of living crisis

The ‘Self-care medicines scheme’ will be open to people unable to afford over-the-counter medicines owing to low income and will cover the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington.…

Davina Annie Taylor (née Bunting) (1933–2024)

On 14 February 2024, Davina Annie Taylor (née Bunting), aged 90 years, of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. Tribute Davina studied pharmacy at Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh, much of it in the Grassmarket Boots branch, where a large proportion of the students were Scandinavians and men re…

First Scottish consultant pharmacist appointed

Jennifer Laskey has been appointed as a consultant cancer pharmacist by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.…

Pharmacists working in primary care increase by a quarter in a year

The number of pharmacy technicians working in primary care has also increased, rising by 40.4% between 2022 and 2023.…

How to identify red-flag symptoms and refer patients appropriately

Pharmacy teams must understand how to help patients who are experiencing red-flag symptoms through providing appropriate advice and escalation.…

Declining use of sodium valproate linked to fall in birth defects among children, study results show

Children exposed to levetiracetam, oxcarbazepine and lamotrigine in the womb had the lowest prevalence of major congenital malformations.…

Pharmacists must be able to refer young people with gender dysphoria for support, says regulator

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive of the General Pharmaceutical Council, has warned that a lack of clear referral routes could lead people to seek alternative options, such as unregulated products or private clinics outside of the UK.…

MPharm clinical placements: a variable picture across Britain

An overhaul of clinical placements is helping to prepare trainee pharmacists for becoming independent prescribers when they join the professional register, but issues around funding, capacity and expectation are still being ironed out.…

Fourteen nitazenes made Class A controlled drugs

The Home Office has made 15 new synthetic opioids Class A drugs “to prevent drug related deaths in the UK”.…

Pharmacists could safely assess mislabelled penicillin allergy, study results suggest

Pharmacists and other non-allergy specialist healthcare professionals assessed 97% of trial participants as having no penicillin allergy.…