Community pharmacy services

Pharmacy minister announces 6% cuts to community pharmacy will not happen in October

Plans to cut 6% from community pharmacy funding in England will not be implemented in October 2016 as originally planned, says David Mowat, minister for community health and care.…

Community pharmacy could detect unknown cases of coeliac disease

A proof of concept study has shown how opportunistic testing in community pharmacies may help identify those with coeliac disease who would not otherwise have been tested.…

Australian and Portuguese pharmacy initiatives win international awards

A national programme in Australia that aims to increase the profile of community pharmacists and a health promotion campaign run by pharmacists in Portugal have won international recognition.…

Moves to stop pharmacy repeat prescription schemes prompts new guidance

Community pharmacy leaders have produced guidance about the management of repeat medicine requests following moves by GPs to prevent community pharmacies from reordering prescriptions in advance on behalf of patients.…

Community pharmacy forward view sets out plans to support ‘high performing’ NHS

A vision in which pharmacy is the first port of call for non-emergency episodic care and facilitates personalised care for people with long-term conditions has been laid out by the profession.…

Pharmacy teams regularly choose not to supply OTC drugs

Community pharmacy teams regularly choose not to fulfil customers’ requests for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, offering health advice or signposting them to other services instead, a study by Pharmacy Voice has revealed.…

Community pharmacy helps diagnose people with hepatitis C infection, study shows

Community pharmacists have the potential to identify people with undiagnosed hepatitis C infection, according to research published in Clinical Pharmacist.…

Canadian data suggest community pharmacies improve flu vaccine uptake

Influenza vaccination rates are modestly higher in provinces where the vaccinations can be provided by pharmacists, research conducted in Canada shows.…

Integrating community pharmacy testing for hepatitis C with specialist care

Many patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection lie undiagnosed and a significant proportion of patients that have been identified are disengaged from specialist services. The Isle of Wight (IOW) typifies this issue, with an estimated 200 undiagnosed patients with HCV infection and a small numb…

Quarter of pharmacists never speak to parents about childhood headache

More than a quarter of pharmacists (27.6%) say that they have never spoken to a parent or carer about childhood headache, despite the condition occurring in around 60% of children and adolescents.…