Healthcare provision

NHS launches clinical examination skill training for 10,000 community pharmacists

The clinical examination and consulting skills training is aimed to complement independent prescriber training.…

ADHD and central nervous system stimulant prescribing has increased by almost 70% in five years

The NHS Business Services Authority's 'Medicines used in mental health' report covers five types of mental health medication prescribed in England and dispensed in the community.…

Taiwo Owatemi: ‘Pharmacists should be able to refer patients straight to secondary care’

Labour MP and locum pharmacist Taiwo Owatemi shares her views on how to handle pressures on the NHS and why the government is dragging its feet with England’s ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme.…

NHS England to remove financial incentives for structured medication reviews in 2023/2024

Incentives to switch patients to environmentally friendly inhalers and to prescribe more patients with edoxaban will also be scrapped.…

Government advisers recommend further COVID-19 vaccine boosters for vulnerable patients

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended that a spring booster should be offered to adults aged over 75 years, people living in care homes for older adults, and anyone aged five years and over who is immunosuppressed.…

Second NHS trust trials drone deliveries for chemotherapy medicines

The trial will collect logistical data to ensure the drones can safely transport the medicine between hospital sites in Northumbria.…

PJ view: Pharmacy’s professional leadership body deserves an independent voice

Those appointing the new Pharmacy Leadership Council should carefully consider how best to empower pharmacy to develop standards and leadership that are fit for the future.…

Give prescribers access to non-drug alternatives to antidepressants and opioids, says NHS

In a new framework, NHS England recommends alternative treatment options, such as psychotherapy, health coaching and pain or sleep clinics, are commissioned locally.…

High drug prices not justified by research and development spending, US analysis claims

Analysis by health economists show that the median price of newly launched prescription drugs in the United States rose from US$1,400 per year in 2008 to more than US$150,000 per year in 2021.…

Drug manufacturers propose 7% levy on company profits to replace existing voluntary scheme

The Department of Health and Social Care says the proposed new 'Voluntary scheme for pricing, access and growth' — through which manufacturers would pay a fixed levy of 6.9% on profits made from selling medicines to the NHS — would be "completely unaffordable".…