PJ, March 2024, Vol 312, No 7983

It is time to rethink prescribing scope of practice and the DPP model for foundation training

William Swain argues that plans to ‘retrofit’ traditional supervision and scope of practice models for early career pharmacist prescribers from 2026 could have a detrimental effect.…

Diabetes prescribing guidance published amid ongoing GLP-1 RAs shortage

The updated guidance is aimed to support clinicians in selecting alternative glucose-lowering therapies during this period of national shortage of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists.…

The role of community pharmacy in addressing health inequalities

An overview of health inequalities in the UK, using existing working examples to show how community pharmacy can help to address these.…

Almost a third of Pharmacy First consultations have been carried out in most deprived areas of England

Data from the Company Chemists' Association show 30% of Pharmacy First consultations at its member pharmacies were provided in the 20% most deprived communities in England in the first month of the service.…

Minor ailments prescribing service to be offered by more than 90 community pharmacies

Hypertension is the second most common prescribing service and will be offered at 73 independent prescribing pathfinder sites.…

Accessing post-registration training: a regional survey

In 2022, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) highlighted a lack of consistency and quality assurance in post-registration education and training for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians​[1]​. At a time when the NHS is under significant pressure and there is a shortage of pharmacy staff, un…

MHRA approvals miss targets by more than 100 days, data show

In January 2024, it took an average of 333 days for a regulatory decision to be made for a medicine under the national route for marketing authorisations, versus a statutory timescale of 210 days.…

Adopting a quality improvement approach to patient safety incidents

How pharmacists can support the implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework and drive continuous improvement.…

PJ view: Restore pharmacy opening hours to improve end-of-life care

With a fifth of pharmacies in England reducing opening hours to save their business, people nearing the end of their lives have been added to a growing list of patient groups bearing the brunt of pharmacy underfunding.…

Gene-editing sickle cell drug not approved for NHS use in draft NICE guidance

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said it required “additional data” beyond the current proposal.…