UK government says it does not support safe drug consumption rooms Speaking at a House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee inquiry into the Glasgow safe drug consumption facility, the minister for policing and crime prevention said the Westminster government would “not be amending the Misuse of Drugs Act”.…
What difference will hub-and-spoke dispensing actually make? This month, our health policy columnist mulls over the true impact of the roll-out of hub-and-spoke community pharmacy prescription filling between different organisations.…
Hospital pharmacists awarded 3.6% pay rise The Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists said the pay award does not go far enough in reversing the below-inflation awards seen in previous years.…
Consultation on prescription flexibility expected ‘by summer 2025’, government says The consultation is likely to consider whether enabling community pharmacies to change prescriptions should only be in “cases of immediate clinical need", the Department of Health and Social Care said.…
House of Commons passes amendment allowing pharmacists to opt out of assisted dying process The amendment means that pharmacy staff would be under no obligation to supply substances to be used in assisted dying.…
Assisted dying exemption amendment for pharmacists to be debated in Parliament Kim Leadbeater MP, who introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, has proposed the amendment, which will be discussed at the Bill's report stage.…
Government commits to introducing pharmacy supervision legislation later in 2025 According to a parliamentary answer from pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock, the government will publish its response to its own consultation over supervision changes “later this year”.…
Medicines optimisation teams need to showcase their value to withstand ICB funding cuts With integrated care boards soon to have lost 65% of their funding over two years, now is the time for medicines optimisation teams to ‘be noisy’ about their work.…
NPA will not recommend collective action that could have limited pharmacy services The National Pharmacy Association has announced that it will not recommend collective action, following the new pharmacy contract.…
Homecare medicines services need electronic prescribing and access to records, report urges The General Pharmaceutical Council has suggested that UK national health organisations should ensure that homecare pharmacy teams have the same access to clinical systems as other parts of patients’ care team.…
