Care of older people

Integration fund to pay for pharmacist medicine optimisation posts in care homes

Announcement of 180 pharmacist and 60 pharmacy technician posts to improve medicines optimisation in care homes…

Optimising the health and wellbeing of older people living with HIV in the United Kingdom

Care for people with HIV has improved, meaning that more people are living with HIV into older age with normal life expectancy. Therefore, there are various challenges and opportunities facing healthcare professionals when providing care to this changing demographic.…

Diagnosis and management of hospital-acquired pneumonia in older adults

Hospital‑acquired pneumonia increases the length of in-patient hospital stay and is associated with high mortality rates, particularly in older people. Pharmacists and healthcare professionals need to know how to diagnose and manage the condition, and be cognisant of the gaps in …

PHE supports use of trivalent flu vaccine in older people to reduce hospitalisations

New Public Health England guidance says using adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine in older people would reduce GP consultations and hospitalisations…

Pharmacies will be commissioned to provide flu vaccination next winter using trivalent adjuvanted vaccine

Community pharmacies will be commissioned to administer flu vaccination to the over-65s and other high-risk groups next winter…

Dry mouth affects people with intellectual or learning disabilities, as well as older people

This letter relates to ‘Older adults at risk of medication-related dry mouth’. Dry mouth may be a problem in the ageing general population. But it can also present a lifetime difficulty for people with intellectual or learning disabilities. In general, people with intellectua…

Study reinforces importance of repeated annual flu vaccination in older adults

Repeated flu vaccination is highly effective in preventing severe and fatal infection caused by influenza in older adults.…

Flu consultations with GPs spike

There was a large increase in the number of GP consultations in England for flu-like illness at the end of 2017.…

Greater integration could bring better health in care homes, King’s Fund says

Closer co-ordination between care homes and other health services could help improve care for elderly residents, according to a King’s Fund report…

RPS Wales give evidence on use of antipsychotic medicines in care homes

Pharmacists should be “guardians of the appropriate use of antipsychotics in care home settings”, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Wales told the Welsh Assembly on 5 October 2017.…