Patients

Christian and Muslim groups raise concerns over change to pharmacists’ ‘conscience’ clause

Religious groups representing healthcare professionals have raised concerns over a proposed change to professional standards that requires pharmacists to ensure their beliefs do not compromise patient-centred care.…

Welsh audit body recommends managing medicines plan

The government, the NHS and health bodies should revise the indicators used to compare how different prescribers and organisations use medicines, says a report by the Welsh Audit Office.…

Patient survey results acknowledge “huge” role clinical pharmacists in GP practices could play

The Patients Association says it wants clinical pharmacists to become part of the established primary care team, with one in every GP practice in England, following the results of a survey that asked patients and carers about pharmacists’ emerging role.…

Summary care record now used in 50% of community pharmacies in England

The summary care record (SCR) is now used in almost 6,000 community pharmacies — around half the total number in England — one year after its roll out to community pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, NHS Digital has announced. To date, more than 20,000 pharmacy professionals have…

Fixed dose combination products have little impact on medicines adherence

While persistence rates favoured patients taking a fixed dose combination of a statin and ezetimibe, it made no difference to adherence, researchers found.…

Gout treatment does not raise CKD risk

Study shows serum urate levels can be lowered using allopuruinol in gout without risk to kidneys.…

Patients lack knowledge on how to report adverse drug reactions

A lack of awareness about reporting systems for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and confusion about how they work are preventing patients from informing medicines safety regulators when something goes wrong, according to research published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology [1] …

Access to HIV drugs rises across the world, says UNAIDS

The number of people in the world with HIV who gained access to antiretroviral treatment in the past six months has risen by one million, according to a report published by the international charity UNAIDS on 21 November 2016. There are now 18.2 million people receiving the therapy – dou…

NHS has power to fund PrEP HIV drug, Court of Appeal rules

NHS England has the power to fund a ‘game changing’ drug that can prevent HIV infection, the UK Court of Appeal has ruled.…

Pharmacists should prepare medicine records for patients using home care services

Community pharmacists should create a paper medicines administration record for adults who use home care services, according to proposals from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), England’s health technology body.…