Gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone prescriptions in England increased each year between 2013 and 2018 Prescriptions for gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone increased year on year between 2013 and 2018 across primary care in England, study results published in the British Journal of General Practice show.…
Number of clinical pharmacists expected to work in PCNs rises to 7,500 by 2023/2024 The number of clinical pharmacists needed to work in the new primary care networks in England by 2023/2024 could be as high as 7,500, according to a calculation by London GPs.…
More than 500,000 patients in England were prescribed an opioid for over three years, PHE finds A review published by Public Health England has found that more than 500,000 patients in England were continuously prescribed an opioid for three years or more, despite a lack of evidence showing their efficacy in the long term.…
Five important features of the new community pharmacy contract A summary of the main points of the new contract that community pharmacists in England need to know about before October 2019.…
One in seven five-year olds are not fully protected against MMR, warns PHE Around 90,000 five-year-olds in England are not fully up to date with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, according to data from Public Health England.…
Drug-related deaths in England and Wales reach record levels, says ONS The number of drug-related deaths in England and Wales has reached a record high, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.…
Paper prescriptions will be a rare sight by next year, says NHS Digital programme lead Paper prescriptions will become “a rare thing to see” over the next 12 months, according to NHS Digital’s programme director for digital medicines.…
English Pharmacy Board meeting: 19–20 June 2019 The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s English Pharmacy Board elected a new chair and vice chair, and heard updates on the publication of the cannabidiol oil guidance document and the Society’s three-tier response to the ‘NHS Long Term Plan’.…
E-cigarette use increases as cigarette smoking falls, report reveals The proportion of cigarette smokers in England fell from 14.9% in 2017 to 14.4% in 2018, according to annual figures published by NHS Digital.…
Opioids in England: crisis averted? Despite a 20% increase in opioid prescriptions per 1,000 population over the past decade, there are signs that a US-style opioid epidemic may have been averted.…