Society, law and politics

Conflicting regulations on controlled drugs may expose pharmacists to criminal liability — the law must change

Contradictions in misuse of drugs regulations mean there are ways in which pharmacists dispensing controlled drugs could be seen to be breaking the law. Two decades after their last revision, these regulations are surely due a rethink.…

RPS commits to proactive anti-racism

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has made 11 commitments as part of its anti-racism pledge.…

RPS joins APTUK and NHS England to launch action plan for inclusive pharmacy practice

The joint plan will include actions that pharmacy teams should incorporate into practice to “benefit the health of our diverse communities”.…

Pharmacy regulator to publish ‘diversity data’ around fitness-to-practise cases

The General Pharmaceutical Council has said it will publish diversity data related to fitness-to-practise cases in order to understand and address potential discrimination.…

RPS Museum online exhibition celebrates women in pharmacy

'Celebrating Women in Pharmacy' launched on International Women's Day and celebrates women throughout the history of pharmacy.…

Bill that could allow wider hub-and-spoke dispensing expected to become law in February 2021

Exclusive: The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill is expected to receive royal assent in February 2021.…

GPhC fitness-to-practise case did not address antisemitism

The views expressed in this letter are those of the authors. If you would like to submit a letter to The Pharmaceutical Journal, please click here. In 2020, discrimination was brought into tight focus and, in this context, a recent hearing by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) s…

Pharmacy ‘first ports of call’ are disappearing in struggling communities

A disproportionate number of community pharmacies are closing in the most deprived areas of England, analysis by The Pharmaceutical Journal has found. Without better funding for the sector, the health inequalities exposed by the pandemic could widen even further.…

I often confuse my plain white tablets — shouldn’t they have markings?

I am simply an ordinary patient of my local GP practice. I have several medical conditions controlled by a considerable number of tablet medications of various shapes, colours and sizes. I normally sort these into daily doses for seven days. Today, I noticed my morning intake of tablets w…

2020: the year of COVID-19

This year has been dominated by a single topic. Here, we look back at an extraordinary 12 months, and an extremely challenging time for pharmacy teams.…