Latest dispensing figures hold no surprisesThe latest report on prescriptions dispensed in the England, from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, make complete sense, writes Chris Chapman.…
GPs call for legislation to end patent protection for specific drugs While patent protection is important for stimulating drug development, a second medical use patent for pregabalin has caused “considerable” work for pharmacies.…
Setting up a pharmacy on GP premises: the law Pharmacy owners may have considered locating their businesses on GP premises to increase their dispensing volume. However, they need to ensure they are acting within the law.…
‘Imperative’ hospital pharmacists are given dispensing error defence soon Society restates concern over lack of defence for hospital pharmacists in official response to government consultation.…
UK pharmacy regulator issues guidance on services not provided face to faceThe General Pharmaceutical Council has issued guidance on the provision of non-traditional services when patients may not have face-to-face contact with a pharmacist.…
Prescription items dispensed in the community in England top 1 billionThe number of prescription medicines dispensed in the community in England reached 1.1 billion in 2014 and costs rose to £8.9bn, an increase of 3% compared with 2013.…
MPs publish pharmacy wish list for next UK governmentMPs from the All-Party Pharmacy Group have written a wish list of what they want the next UK government to achieve within its first 100 days.…
Proposals to ‘decriminalise’ dispensing errors may not prevent prosecution for inadvertent mistakes New proposals seek to end the threat of prosecution for inadvertent dispensing errors but there are concerns that pharmacists will not be fully protected when they make an honest mistake.…
The way pharmacists work will not changeI wish to comment on Brian Curwain’s letter on the government’s proposal to decriminalise dispensing errors ( The Pharmaceutical Journal 2015;294:211). I am not convinced that the decriminalisation of dispensing errors will change the way in which pharmaci…
Changes to dispensing errors legislation must strike the right balance The proposed changes to the laws on dispensing errors are a step in the right direction but more needs to be done to remove the threat of prosecution from pharmacists.…