Healthcare provision

Missed opportunities: the patients falling through the cracks after discharge

With more than a quarter of trusts in England yet to implement the NHS Discharge Medicines Service, high-risk patients could be missing out on lifesaving help from their community pharmacist.…

Quarter of hospitals yet to refer patients for ‘life-saving’ community pharmacy service

Exclusive: Responses to a freedom of information request show that 39 out of 147 hospital trusts in England had not yet implemented the discharge medicines service.…

‘Worrying’ rise in number of patients with a high anticholinergic burden

Exclusive: Experts say the rise could be owing to the lack of contact between prescribers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Sibby Buckle: ‘Even if it is uncomfortable, I am prepared to voice my concerns’

Following her appointment as treasurer for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Sibby Buckle says she is ready to be an ambassador for Society members.…

Additional 130 community pharmacies sign up to offer independent prescribing service

Judy Thomas, director of contractor services at Community Pharmacy Wales, said she expected a "huge jump" in the number of independent prescribing pharmacists from January 2023.…

Community pharmacy ‘conflict of interest’ must be tackled in prescribing pilots, says deputy chief pharmaceutical officer

Bruce Warner said the NHS “can’t hide from the conflicts of interest” that arise from prescribing and dispensing within the same community pharmacy.…

Infographic: the rise of independent prescribers

More than 14,000 pharmacists are now qualified as independent prescribers, with hundreds more starting training courses in September 2022. We take a deep dive into the independent prescribers currently on the register.…

Pharmacists should have read-write access to health records, standards body says

The Professional Record Standards Body found that pharmacists should have full read and write access to patient records "due to the nature and complexity of pharmacists' involvement in care and treatment".…

MPs call for national formulary for HRT treatments

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Menopause has also called for HRT prescription costs to be scrapped.…

Drug shortages linked with medication errors, study results suggest

Data from the French Pharmacovigilance Database show that medication errors were identified in 11% of the 462 cases mentioning a drug shortage.…