Professions

Nothing beats practical experience during pharmacy training

I realise that present-day requirements for pharmacy education may be very different from those in my day at the end of the Second World War and in the 1950s, but, having read comments on the General Pharmaceutical Council’s proposal to integrate practical placements throughout a five-year pha…

Managing dental emergencies in community pharmacy: hard tissue conditions

Patients often present to community pharmacies with oral and dental problems. This article focuses on the advice pharmacists and their teams can give to patients presenting with hard tissue emergencies.…

Pharmacist-led oral health intervention scheme to be rolled out after successful pilot

A pilot programme in which pharmacists offer oral health advice to patients while they wait for prescriptions is due to be rolled out across the north east of England.…

The BBC has got it wrong: we are not ‘GP substitutes’

Pharmacists in general practice provide invaluable expertise and do not exist just to ‘relieve pressure’ on GPs, says clinical pharmacist Tom Gregory.…

Lessons for better use of community pharmacy in primary care

Policymakers have, for some time, recognised the importance of community pharmacy in optimising patient-centred care and reducing GPs’ workload through extended service delivery. However, awareness and use of such services among patients and members of the public remain low[1] . The p…

GPhC approves £7 increase in pharmacist renewal fees

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has approved an increase of its entry and renewal fees from 1 July 2019.…

Preventing hazardous prescribing with a pharmacist-led dashboard intervention

Medication errors that lead to adverse drug events are a major problem, and one that has been acknowledged by the World Health Organization’s third Global Patient Safety Challenge. In the UK, 1 in every 550 prescriptions in primary care contains potentially life-threatening errors, 1 in 25 hos…

APTUK appoints new president and vice president

The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK has appointed a new president following the departure of Tess Fenn in 2018.…

Contribute to research on perceptions of ‘the pharmacist’

At this time of uncertainty within the pharmacy profession, it is more important than ever that, together, we can articulate exactly what a pharmacist is. Without a clear idea, we will struggle to convince patients, commissioners and politicians of our value and the contribution we make. Never…

Remembering compassionate pharmacy technician Elizabeth Maria Morgan

It is with great sadness to announce the passing of Elizabeth Maria Morgan, a pharmacy technician, on 13 January 2019. Elizabeth provided highly skilled services for the community of Whitechapel, East London, and will be dearly missed. Elizabeth’s compassion, which often saw her visiting…