Community pharmacy services

Warm words cannot mask the true picture of pharmacy neglect

The Pharmaceutical Journal's health policy columnist looks at why ministers keep talking about Pharmacy First in England, but there is a lack of progress when it comes to its implementation.…

Autism: identification, management and support

Healthcare professionals need a robust knowledge of autism and the challenges faced by autistic individuals and their carers to provide effective support. Pharmacists can ensure medicines are used appropriately and make reasonable adjustments to provide equitable access to services.…

NHS launches clinical examination skill training for 10,000 community pharmacists

The clinical examination and consulting skills training is aimed to complement independent prescriber training.…

Boots to trial £20 type 2 diabetes screening service

If deemed suitable for screening, patients will undergo a finger prick blood test and receive diagnostic test results within seven minutes.…

Negotiator urges government to allow pharmacies to cut opening hours by a third to manage cost pressures

A statement from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee sets out a range of regulatory easements to help pharmacies deal with financial and logistical pressures.…

Taiwo Owatemi: ‘Pharmacists should be able to refer patients straight to secondary care’

Labour MP and locum pharmacist Taiwo Owatemi shares her views on how to handle pressures on the NHS and why the government is dragging its feet with England’s ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme.…

NHS England to remove financial incentives for structured medication reviews in 2023/2024

Incentives to switch patients to environmentally friendly inhalers and to prescribe more patients with edoxaban will also be scrapped.…

Campaign to encourage pharmacy use ‘irresponsible and extremely unhelpful’, says negotiator

NHS England's 'Help Us Help You' campaign will use film themes to encourage people to visit community pharmacies for minor illnesses.…

MPs urge health secretary to fund a ‘Pharmacy First’ service to ease wider NHS pressures

In letters to health secretary Steve Barclay, MPs and members of the House of Lords called for urgent funding to stabilise the community pharmacy sector and a “fair and fit for purpose funding model”.…

Antibiotic resistance: is it time to get serious about point-of-care testing?

There is solid evidence from other countries that point-of-care testing before prescribing antibiotics for respiratory tract and other infections helps to combat antimicrobial resistance, but experts say the UK is far behind.…