Medicines shortages picture improving, government says Health minister Zubir Ahmed told the House of Lords Public Services Committee's inquiry into medicines security that shortages observed in the first half of 2025 are much lower compared with the previous year.…
Government to consult on widening access to take-home naloxone ‘before year end’ In December 2024, UK law was amended to make it legal for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to provide take-home naloxone kits without a prescription in an effort to widen access.…
What will 2026 hold for pharmacy? In this special episode of The PJ Pod, The Pharmaceutical Journal’s editorial team share their predictions for the year ahead.…
One in six patients with severe frailty received a medication review in 2024/2025 The National Audit Office has called for NHS England to set out clear and consistent GP requirements that involve the proportion and frequency of assessments for patients living with frailty.…
ADHD prescriptions rise by 5% in three months Data from NHS Business Services Authority show that from July to September 2025, almost 300,000 patients were prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.…
Community pharmacists should be able to amend prescriptions, says RPS In response to a government consultation on offering greater dispensing flexibilities for community pharmacists, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society noted that pharmacists in Scotland can already do this without comparative increases in prescribing costs.…
Participation in commercial clinical trials falls for fourth year in a row, finds ABPI An Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry report showed that although the number of trial participants increased, the proportion of people recruited to commercial trials was dropping.…
Patient access to 24/7 palliative care medicines is ‘insufficient’, finds House of Commons-commissioned report The report also suggested that there was a “postcode lottery” in integrated care board provision of palliative care and end-of-life services.…
Minimum wage increase ‘may prove unmanageable for some pharmacy owners’, leaders warn Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the autumn budget that the minimum wage for people aged over 21 years will increase to £12.71 per hour from April 2026, while the hourly rate for people aged 18–20 years will rise to £10.85.…
Budget unveils 250 neighbourhood health centres and £300m NHS technology investment In a statement published alongside the budget, the government said more than 100 of the neighbourhood health centres would be open by 2030.…
