Professions

Training for accuracy checking now open to all pharmacy technicians

All pharmacy technicians are now able to access a fully funded training programme to become final accuracy checkers.…

Top ten most popular opinion articles of 2019

The Pharmaceutical Journal wasn’t short of strong views this year — whether it was a criticism of clinical guidance or a defence of the pharmacy profession. Here are the opinions that resonated most with you in 2019.…

New government pledges to ‘unleash potential’ of community pharmacy

The newly elected Conservative Party government plans to “unleash the potential” of community pharmacies to become a first port of call for the treatment of minor illness.…

More than £50,000 in unpaid locum fees recovered in 2019, says PDA

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association has helped locum pharmacists recover more than £50,000 in unpaid fees so far in 2019.…

Community pharmacy careers are not inferior to those in other sectors

I read Ankit Thapar’s response to ‘Those “timid about inclusion” will not succeed, delegates hear at RPS’s first BAME event’ with interest. While I am not in a position to challenge his assertions about the difficulties black, Asian and minority ethnic pharm…

GPhC publishes guidance for pharmacist prescribers

General Pharmaceutical Council guidance for pharmacist prescribers includes “a number of changes” from proposed guidance that was put out for consultation earlier this year.…

Pharmacists face same workforce crisis as general practice, warns CCA chief

Community pharmacy is “facing the same recruitment and retention crisis” as general practice, the head of the Company Chemists’ Association has said.…

It’s not just medicines that improve health — pharmacists need a better understanding of nutrition

Research shows that dietary changes can help to manage conditions such as diabetes and asthma, so undergraduate pharmacy courses must better prepare pharmacists to advise patients on healthy eating behaviours.…

Primary care networks given more time to transition GP pharmacists

GP pharmacists, funded by NHS England’s clinical pharmacist scheme, have been given an extra two months to start working in primary care networks.…

Highlighting shoulder injury related to vaccine administration

I would like to highlight an important, though rarely discussed or reported, issue: shoulder injury related to vaccine administration (SIRVA). I implore any pharmacists who offer travel or flu vaccinations to take note. SIRVA is a result of the body’s immune response to direct injection …