Community pharmacy services

Patients should be free to choose where to access services, regulators say

GPs and community pharmacists should not allow financial interests to influence the advice they give patients about where to access services, their respective regulators have told them.…

Technicians will be managing pharmacies to free up pharmacists, suggests chief pharmaceutical officer

It is only a matter of time before pharmacy technicians will manage community pharmacies in order to free pharmacists’ time for clinical activities, hinted England’s chief pharmaceutical officer Keith Ridge.…

Write access to patients’ records would transform pharmacy’s role in care

Community pharmacist Sibby Buckle, public affairs lead for the English Pharmacy Board, makes a case for eventual write access to patients’ records but recommends that the pharmacy profession proceeds with care.…

Hepatitis C project set for roll out after winning QiC award

An award-winning project to improve access to hepatitis C testing and treatment in community pharmacy for patients addicted to opioid drugs is set to be extended over the next few months.…

PSNC chief questions evidence for centralised dispensing proposals

The head of England’s community pharmacy contract negotiating body has challenged the evidence behind a government proposal to encourage large-scale expansion of centralised dispensing in the country.…

Elderly patients are taking too many medicines, GPs say

Half of GPs are not confident that elderly patients are taking medicines correctly and many believe some patients may be taking too many medicines, a survey has found.…

GPhC’s new inspection model encourages focus on patients, report suggests

The General Pharmaceutical Council’s new premises inspection regime is “working well” but concerns have been raised over whether it will improve service quality in the long-term, according to research commissioned by the regulator.…

Gaining patient trust over pharmacy access to records

With the roll out of pharmacy access to summary care records, some patients will inevitably express concerns about privacy, but the signs are that patients support this move.…

Proposed cuts to public health budgets are short-sighted

Sandra Gidley, chair of the English Pharmacy Board, calls on pharmacists to campaign against cuts to public health funding for local authorities.…

Pharmacy leaders cautious over UK government plans for hub-and-spoke dispensing

Government proposals to relax medicines legislation to allow greater use of centralised dispensing – also known as hub and spoke dispensing – have been cautiously welcomed by pharmacy leaders, although they warned it could pose a threat to the existing pharmacy network if the change was …