Europe

NICE recommends new treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer

The recommendation for enfortumab vedotin with pembrolizumab has been welcomed because it will meet a need for patients with limited treatment options.…

Drug poisoning deaths fall in England and Wales for first time since 2012, ONS figures show

The Office of National Statistics data show that in 2025 the drug poisoning deaths rate fell to 92.4 deaths per million people from 93.9 in 2024.…

A prescribing service for pharmacies in England: everything you need to know

What can the pharmacy sector expect from an NHS prescribing service in England and how will it be carried out?…

Scotland to require registration for anyone selling vaping and nicotine products

The Scottish government said that registration will not be required for the sale of medically licensed products such as nicotine replacement therapies.…

Community pharmacy generates value far exceeding investment, negotiator analysis finds

In 2023/2024, the community pharmacy sector delivered an estimated £32bn in net social value from £359m in funding, the analysis by Community Pharmacy England concluded.…

Scotland’s first drug-checking service postponed with no new opening date

Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership said “there are a number of operational and technical complexities to work through” before the site could open.…

Two in three housebound patients had no medication review for more than two years

Home-visit service at Aneurin Bevan Health Board’s Primary and Community Care Academy also found that over a quarter of patients reported that waste medicines were “automatically ordered by community pharmacies without checking what patients actually needed”.…

Hypertension pilot demonstrated pharmacy management of long-term conditions

The results of a hypertension case-finding pilot highlighted that patients with long-term conditions can be identified and managed in community pharmacies.…

All health boards told to include a member of their pharmacy team in ATMP planning

In its national review of pharmacy aseptic services, Advanced Therapies Wales has also asked all health boards and NHS trusts to develop an advanced therapy medicinal products action plan by 31 March 2027.…

Almost half of pharmacy owners cut staff because of cost pressures in the past year, survey finds

The results of Community Pharmacy Wales' annual pressure survey also showed that nearly two-thirds of community pharmacy contractors said their businesses' current financial position was worse than this time last year.…