Hospital pharmacy

The virtual ward pharmacist: a new breed

Use of virtual wards, also known as ‘hospital at home’, is increasing across the NHS. With this expansion has come a new wave of job opportunities for pharmacists, but concerns remain over how this new breed of pharmacists will be resourced.…

‘Groundbreaking’ electronic prescription service rolled out in six NHS hospital trusts

Exclusive: Six hospital trusts across England have begun using the electronic prescription service for secondary care, which was piloted during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Vitamin C ineffective in treating COVID-19 but simvastatin may provide benefit, trial data show

Researchers report that critically ill patients receiving IV vitamin C had a lower hospital discharge rate than those in the placebo group.…

Medicines shortages experienced by 95% of hospital pharmacists across Europe, survey finds

Hospital pharmacists across 58 countries reported that medicines shortages had delayed or cancelled care.…

RPS publishes standards for pharmacists working for ‘hospital at home’ scheme

The eight standards have been created to set out what constitutes ‘good’ in terms of working practices, as well as audit and benchmark pharmacy services across eight core areas.…

Eating disorders: identification, treatment and support

Pharmacists are well positioned to identify the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder and can provide access to sources of help and support.…

An audit of pharmacological therapy on discharge for patients admitted with acute decompensated HFrEF 

Pharmacological management of acute decompensated heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) reduces mortality and morbidity​[1]​. International and local guidelines recommend with class I evidence for the use of renin-angiotensin system inhibitor (RAASi), beta-blocker, miner…

Nina Barnett (1965–2023)

“Inspirational” pharmacy stalwart Nina Barnett will leave behind a legacy that her peers say they will proudly continue to take forward.…

Half of hospital trusts require staff to have training on time-critical medication, charity finds

Parkinson's UK, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and other healthcare bodies have called on the government to ensure NHS trusts have policies in place to enable patients to receive their medicines on time.…

Improving safety of warfarin prescribing and administration using clinical decision support

There are several benefits of electronic prescribing and medication administration (EPMA) systems, including the ability to support the reduction in medication omission errors​[1,2]​. Researchers suggest that medication administration errors account for ju…