Prescribing

Health Innovation Network’s polypharmacy programme comes to an end

The National Polypharmacy Programme has supported over 2,000 healthcare professionals to address overprescribing since its launch in 2022.…

Less than half of pharmacists who can prescribe do so daily

Exclusive: One in ten community pharmacist respondents to The Pharmaceutical Journal's 2025 salary survey said they had never prescribed, despite holding an IP qualification.…

Expanding community pharmacy services could save NHS almost £4bn

The National Pharmacy Association also notes that the data in its report equate to “over 100,000 years of additional healthy life per annum" for patients.…

Valproate in pregnancy reaches lowest level yet, data suggest

Sodium valproate prescriptions for women and girls aged 12 to 54 years have almost halved since measures were introduced to reduce prescribing in April 2018.…

Polypharmacy programme could have saved NHS more than £1m, report finds

The Health Innovation Network’s polypharmacy programme provided training and support to healthcare professionals to tackle overprescribing, as well as developing resources to improve communication with patients.…

Health news round-up: Huntington’s disease breakthrough and how to tackle medicines misinformation

Senior clinical reporter Joanna Robertson summarises some important developments in health news.…

Patient survey reveals support for deprescribing in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Efforts to address medicines waste and improve prescribing quality are gathering momentum across Scotland following the NHS England ‘National overprescribing review report’, published in 20211. Within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), the patient experience and public involvement (PE…

Antipsychotic prescribing in dementia does not follow NICE guidance, study shows

Researchers found that the prescribing of antipsychotics for older people with dementia goes on longer than advised, which increases the risk of avoidable harms.…

Transforming undergraduate placements to support the initial education and training of pharmacists

The University of Manchester clinical tutor team discusses changes made to MPharm hospital placements and the additional benefits of supporting initial education and the training of pharmacists.…

Government opens consultation on giving pharmacists greater dispensing flexibilities

A consultation document has outlined proposals that could enable pharmacists to substitute out-of-stock medicine with an alternative in urgent situations.…