Therapeutic intervention

What is ‘chronic primary pain’ and why is NICE guidance on it causing controversy?

New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has defined pain with no identifiable underlying cause as ‘chronic primary pain‘, but there are concerns the guideline could adversely affect patient care.…

How to address vaccine hesitancy

Despite the proven efficacy of vaccines, vaccine hesitancy is a growing problem. This article highlights how pharmacists and pharmacy teams can address vaccine hesitancy and allay patient concerns in the context of COVID-19 vaccines.…

COVID-19 vaccines have prevented more than 10,000 deaths in England, PHE says

Public Health England has calculated that 10,400 deaths have been prevented in England by the COVID-19 vaccination programme.…

Antidepressants and non-drug therapy should be considered for treatment of chronic primary pain, says NICE

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline says antidepressants may help with quality of life, pain, sleep and psychological distress, even in the absence of depression.…

Community pharmacists administer almost 3 million flu jabs in 2020–2021

There have been at least 2.6 million vaccines administered by community pharmacy in England during the 2020–2021 flu vaccination programme.…

The COVID-19 vaccine programme is a sprint, but pharmacists must lead the marathon

Coronavirus vaccines are here to stay, but vaccine sites are only temporary — given the pressures the system are under, community pharmacy should lead this vaccination programme in the future.…

Naltrexone reduces pain intensity and improves life for those with chronic pain, review suggests

Researchers are now calling for more large-scale studies to investigate low-dose naltrexone as a treatment for chronic pain.…

Pharmacy-led vaccination centres to double to 400 sites by end of March 2021

Pharmacy minister Jo Churchill told the House of Commons the government is still in discussions about the reimbursement of COVID-19 costs incurred by community pharmacies.…

Government plans COVID-19 revaccination campaign

Pharmacies "will be key" to the success of a COVID-19 revaccination programme in autumn/winter 2021.…

New drug cuts the risk of death in bladder cancer by 30% compared with chemotherapy, study suggests

A trial comparing new antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin with chemotherapy in patients with bladder cancer has found that overall survival was longer in the group receiving the new drug.…