Government

Ability to supply naloxone should be expanded to non-registered members of pharmacy team, says negotiator

Community Pharmacy England has said that amended legislation should go further than extending the ability to supply naloxone without a prescription to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.…

Fourteen nitazenes made Class A controlled drugs

The Home Office has made 15 new synthetic opioids Class A drugs “to prevent drug related deaths in the UK”.…

UK government backs all recommendations made following review of bias in medical devices

Alongside recommendations on the use of AI devices in NHS healthcare, the review specifically calls for oximeter standards to be strengthened to ensure accuracy with darker skin tones.…

Drug reimbursement reforms could increase price volatility, warns negotiator

Community Pharmacy England said a move to quarterly updating of Category A reimbursement prices could have an "unknown impact" on medicines supply chains.…

Chancellor promises electronic patient records for all NHS trusts by March 2026

In the spring 2024 Budget, the government said it will spend £3.4bn on boosting productivity in the NHS, including £2bn on updating IT systems.…

Medicines shortages reported to government increase by almost 70% since 2021

Exclusive: The government logged 137 reports of medicines shortages on average each month in 2023, compared with an average of 82 each month in 2021.…

RPS calls for authorisation of pharmacy technicians to supervise pharmacies to be documented

In response to the government's consultation on pharmacy supervision, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said the authorisation of a pharmacy technician to prepare and assemble medicines should be documented to protect both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.…

Allowing pharmacy technicians to supervise hospital aseptic facilities would increase risk of ‘catastrophic clinical error’, says PDA

Responding to the government's consultation on pharmacy supervision, the Pharmacists' Defence Association said that pharmacy technicians do not have the “clinical knowledge” needed to supervise hospital aseptic facilities.…

Paul Rees: ‘Pharmacy First could be the saviour of general practice’

The National Pharmacy Association’s new chief executive sets out what needs to change to address the ‘urgent crisis’ unfolding in community pharmacy.…

NPA chief executive calls for community pharmacy to receive 2.5% of NHS budget

Speaking to The Pharmaceutical Journal, Paul Rees said the community pharmacy sector is “in the midst of the worst funding crisis in living memory”.…