Charities

Reclassifying emergency hormonal contraception levonorgestrel from a pharmacy to general sale medicine is not the answer

Instead of making levonorgestrel available to purchase in any retail outlet without medical advice, it would be better to improve emergency hormonal contraception consultations, lower the price of the medicine and make it more easily accessible via national patient group directions.…

Unanswered questions about proposed PrEP trial

With 17 new HIV diagnoses made every day in the UK, we need to be bold and ambitious in our approach to HIV prevention — and this must include access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all who need it. For two years we have been calling for a long-term, stable home for PrEP within th…

Ending stigma towards HIV is the first step towards ending AIDS

On this World AIDS Day the National AIDS Trust’s theme is stigma, and there is so much that healthcare workers can do to help to combat stigma from the frontlines. The recently published UK Stigma Index highlighted the real problem in healthcare, with only 58% of people living with HIV feeling…

Emergency hormonal contraception should be on general sale in the UK, charity urges

Emergency hormonal contraception should be available to buy from non-pharmacy retail outlets in the UK, urges the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a reproductive health services charity.…

NHS England needs to make a transparent decision on PrEP without further delay

A decision on whether to fund HIV prevention treatment on the NHS should be based on the evidence, not politics.…

How to write a research article to submit for publication

Pharmacists and healthcare professionals who are undertaking research should have an understanding of how to produce a research article for publication, and should be aware of the important considerations relating to submission to a peer-reviewed journal.…

How to spot signs of postnatal depression in the pharmacy

In light of singer Adele’s recent admission in an interview that she has suffered from postnatal depression (PND), I would like to alert readers to how they can spot the signs and help those who might be affected in their day-to-day work in the pharmacy. New mothers can often feel emotio…

Listening Friends: the original peer support scheme for pharmacists

This year — 2016 — is a special year for Pharmacist Support (previously The Benevolent Fund) because not only does it commemorate the charity’s 175th anniversary, it also marks 20 years of one of its most recognised services, Listening Friends. The Listening Friends sche…

Royal Pharmaceutical Society announces new director for England

Robbie Turner, chief executive of Community Pharmacy West Yorkshire, has been appointed the new director for England at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.…

We need to increase mental health research in young people

Around one in four people in the UK experience a mental health condition each year. Currently, up to two-thirds of those affected are going without treatment. We lack the tools to diagnose many mental illnesses quickly or effectively enough, and treatments do not work well enough for too many people…