PJ, October 2021, Vol 307, No 7954

HRT prescription charges could be scrapped if parliamentary bill becomes law

The Menopause (Support and Services) Bill would allow patients to receive hormone replacement therapy prescriptions for free in England, and would also make provisions for menopause support and services.…

Carpal tunnel syndrome: identification and management

As the NHS faces a backlog of patients requiring surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacy teams should be able to diagnose and support patients with effective management earlier to avoid surgery.…

Community pharmacies in England to carry out contraception checks to free up GP time

NHS England says the oral contraception scheme will relieve burden on primary care while improving access for patients.…

Number of reported medication-related incidents falls to lowest level since 2014/2015

Exclusive: There were 187,670 medication-related patient safety incident reports in 2020/2021, the lowest since 2014/2015, when 175,459 such incidents were reported.…

NHS could save £1.9bn annually with 25% increase in pharmacy funding, says multiples body

The Company Chemists' Association budget representation forecasts that an extra £650m in pharmacy funding would save 8.5 million GP appointments, release 2 million hospital beds and identify 5.5 million patients with undiagnosed hypertension.…

Return of ranitidine being considered by UK manufacturer

Exclusive: Accord Healthcare is looking into the possibility of bringing back the gastrointestinal drug ranitidine, which has been suspended since November 2020.…

Lewis Davies (1932–2021)

On 19 September 2021, Lewis Davies, aged 89 years, of Brentwood, Essex. Mr Davies registered with the Society in 1957.…

Oral antiviral may halve COVID-19 hospitalisation risk, claims manufacturer

Interim results from a trial using data from 775 patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 show that no deaths were reported in those given molnupiravir, compared with eight deaths in those who were given a placebo.…

No increase in adverse effects after giving COVID-19 and flu vaccine together, data suggest

Researchers report that 97% of participants in the 'Combining influenza and COVID-19 vaccination' study would opt for having two vaccines in the same appointment in the future.…