Pharmacy practice

Almost 80% of pharmacies ‘unsustainable’, finds NHS-commissioned economic review

Results of the economic analysis by Frontier Economics and IQVIA were considered in negotiations over the community pharmacy contract, details of which were announced on 31 March 2025.…

Community pharmacy funding boosted by £617m in two-year contract

Community Pharmacy England has announced that a £193m write-off of historic margin overspend has also been agreed with the government.…

Pharmacy and GP contracts should ‘encourage collaboration’, says think tank report

A report published by The King’s Fund has urged that national contracts for general practice and community pharmacy should be “coherent and complementary” in order to move care into the community.…

‘Urgent’ need for community pharmacy to play a role in medicines homecare services, review says

The independent review, commissioned by the chief pharmaceutical officer for Scotland, also said that key performance indicators for medicines homecare are “widely viewed as not fit for purpose”.…

Medication maths: calculations involving molecular weight

This article is part of a comprehensive series on pharmaceutical calculations in preparation for the General Pharmaceutical Council registration assessment. It provides guidance on how to tackle questions that involve calculations based on molecular weight, including a worked example of a sample exa…

Medicines pricing system creating ‘false economy’ that drives shortages, says CCA report

A report published by the Company Chemists’ Association found that the number of price concessions granted for generic medicines increased by over 740% from 2015 to 2024.…

Medication maths: dilutions

This article is part of a comprehensive series on pharmaceutical calculations in preparation for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) registration assessment, providing guidance on how to tackle questions related to dilutions, including a worked example of a sample exam question.…

Pharmacy involvement absent from almost half of TB services in England, report finds

The report, authored by the Getting It Right First Time projects team at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, pointed out that pharmacy was absent in 43% of TB services.…

BMI should be recorded annually for people with long-term conditions, says NICE

The draft quality standard on overweight and obesity management also advises healthcare professionals to seek permission in a sensitive, non-judgemental way before discussing weight.…

Converting textual dose instructions to structured data using Microsoft Excel

I am writing to share some work I have done on the conversion of textual dose instructions to Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard structured data, as suggested by NHS Digital, by using Microsoft Excel. I anticipate that this would be of particular utility to my colleagues in …