Community pharmacy

Prescribing dilemmas: angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors for heart failure in an older patient

The fourth article of our new prescribing dilemmas series, exploring real-world dilemmas that pharmacist prescribers encounter in clinical practice.…

NHS data show significant variation in GP referrals to Pharmacy First across England

Exclusive: GPs in one integrated care board area made more than 11,000 Pharmacy First referrals between 31 January and 30 September 2024, while in another the figure was lower than 650.…

How a GP referral scheme improved hypertension detection in community pharmacy

Primary care pharmacist Gurvinder Najran shares the outcomes from an initiative in Dudley, West Midlands, aimed at improving hypertension detection by referring patients from general practice to community pharmacy.…

Autumn budget could result in £200m additional annual costs for community pharmacies, finds analysis

Pharmacy bodies have called on the government to offset costs for community pharmacies related to increases in employers' national insurance contributions and the national living wage as it has done with the NHS.…

Patient communication will be essential for successful collective action

In this month’s health policy column, Andy Cowper outlines how pharmacies participating in the National Pharmacy Association’s advisory collective action can make their point to the government while keeping patients on side.…

Community pharmacies administered more than half of all COVID-19 vaccines to people from ethnic minorities, data show

According to the Company Chemists’ Association, data from the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme show that more vaccinations should be commissioned from pharmacies to increase vaccine uptake, particularly in hard-to-reach communities.…

NHS England seeks views on centralising flu vaccine procurement

NHS England says it wants to hear evidence of the benefits and challenges of a centralised procurement model in order to improve the effectiveness of the delivery of the flu vaccination programme.…

Scottish community pharmacies trialling oral contraception initiation service

The service offers a variety of oral contraception that can be prescribed, including the progesterone-only pill or combined oral contraception.…

Pharmacy owners vote to reduce services in protest against funding levels

In a ballot of National Pharmacy Association members, 98% of those representing pharmacies in England expressed a willingness to close outside the minimum hours required by their contract.…