ProfessionalService

Walgreens Boots Alliance announces surge in earnings

The newly-formed multinational pharmacy business Walgreens Boots Alliance has announced a surge in earnings and planned closures for 200 US pharmacies.…

Xylitol may not protect teeth from decay

Cochrane reviewers have found little or no good-quality evidence to prove xylitol has a protective effect against tooth decay.…

The UK fitness-to-practise process: from complaint to appeal

If a complaint is brought against a pharmacist in the UK, what can he or she expect from the fitness-to-practise process? Ailsa Colquhoun explains.…

Pharmacy educator becomes new chief pharmaceutical officer for Scotland

Rose Marie Parr has been appointed as the new chief pharmaceutical officer for Scotland, succeeding Bill Scott.…

A collaborative approach will make pharmacy stronger

I welcome and support the recent announcement that the Independent Pharmacy Federation (IPF) and the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) are to merge to create a single representative and support organisation under the NPA banner. This has long been an ambition and it is good news for the sector. Th…

Pharmacy and the Great Exhibition of 1851

Pharmacy’s Great Exhibition was an opportunity missed, writes Stuart Anderson.…

Why not just ask a pharmacist for advice?

I have just watched the BBC programme ‘The truth about your medicine cabinet’, which was a fairly entertaining exposé (in the loosest sense of the term). I found it strange that the nation needs a 60-minute programme to tell us what people could have discovered if they …

One in ten patients modify their medication to overcome swallowing difficulties

In a survey of customers at five community pharmacies in Australia, 10.6% of respondents admitted to modifying their medication.…

Prescription items dispensed in the community in England top 1 billion

The number of prescription medicines dispensed in the community in England reached 1.1 billion in 2014 and costs rose to £8.9bn, an increase of 3% compared with 2013.…

Call for European infrastructure to improve patient safety

Hospital pharmacists should play a central role in increasing the governance of medicines and in reporting and learning from incidents, according to David Cousins, an expert in medication safety.…