Society, law and politics

Ethnicity awarding gap for UK pharmacy graduates narrowed during COVID-19 pandemic

Exclusive: Data analysis suggests a 4-percentage-point drop in the difference between the proportions of white and ethnic minority MPharm graduates awarded an upper-class degree.…

Warm words cannot mask the true picture of pharmacy neglect

The Pharmaceutical Journal's health policy columnist looks at why ministers keep talking about Pharmacy First in England, but there is a lack of progress when it comes to its implementation.…

Taiwo Owatemi: ‘Pharmacists should be able to refer patients straight to secondary care’

Labour MP and locum pharmacist Taiwo Owatemi shares her views on how to handle pressures on the NHS and why the government is dragging its feet with England’s ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme.…

High drug prices not justified by research and development spending, US analysis claims

Analysis by health economists show that the median price of newly launched prescription drugs in the United States rose from US$1,400 per year in 2008 to more than US$150,000 per year in 2021.…

National pharmacy board meeting: 8 February 2023

The English, Scottish and Welsh national pharmacy boards met for their first meeting of 2023 to discuss their individual and collective plans for the year ahead.…

Supermarket pharmacy closures: a watershed moment?

Pharmacy multiples and supermarkets have put 252 in-store branches at risk of closure in 2023, adding strain to an already stretched community pharmacy sector.…

Addressing microaggressions to deliver cultural competence in pharmacy

Microaggressions are a subtle but damaging form of discrimination. Learn how to avoid unintentionally offending people based on their identity and what to do if you make a mistake.…

Half of pharmacists report increase in patients unable to afford prescription medicines, reveals survey

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society survey of 269 pharmacists in England also revealed an increasing number of people are not collecting their prescriptions.…

Pharmacy bodies launch working group on supervision to inform government legislation changes

The Pharmacy Supervision Practice Group held its first meeting in January 2023, and it will produce a report and recommendations for the UK governments.…

PJ view: Let’s showcase how pharmacy can narrow health inequalities

The Pharmaceutical Journal is calling for examples from any pharmacy sector of projects that aim to tackle health inequalities.…