UK healthcare

The development of a tool to evaluate prescribers’ documentation in relation to the RPS competency framework

In 2016, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) published a competency framework for all prescribers, detailing expected standards for the patient consultation and for documentation of the consultation to support safe and competent prescribing​[1]​. Although documentation does not have its …

PJ view: Inequity of access to medicines for compassionate use must end

More than half of acute trusts lack a centralised database of medicines provided through compassionate use schemes, leaving a dearth of information that should be shared to help create fairer access to life-saving treatments.…

Uncompassionate use: the inconsistent offering of life-saving unlicensed medicines

Compassionate use schemes offered by pharmaceutical companies are struggling to live up to their name, as data from a third of acute trusts reveal an inequitable provision of medicines through schemes across England.…

Second ADHD medication shortage leaves patients in ‘very difficult position’, pharmacists warn

A medicine supply notification warned that atomoxetine 40mg and 60mg capsules will be out of stock until September 2023…

Pharmacy teams told to ‘urgently’ order unlicensed imports of chemotherapy drugs in shortage warning

Exclusive: A ‘Tier 3 — high impact’ alert has been issued for the platinum-based chemotherapy agents cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin.…

MPs back expansion of routine vaccination delivery by pharmacists

The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has called for urgent action to tackle declining vaccination rates among children.…

Expert panel says government is making ‘inadequate’ progress on four out of nine of its pharmacy commitments

The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee-commissioned report, which ran alongside the committee's own inquiry into pharmacy services in England, said least progress had been made on legislative changes.…

Beyond ‘safety of supply’: a response to Harry McQuillan’s lecture

The emphasis placed by Harry McQuillan, chief executive of Community Pharmacy Scotland, on the need for community pharmacists in the UK to transition from an 'accuracy of supply' model to a 'safety of supply' model is certainly worthy of attention. However, I argue that we must not stop th…

The use of insulin biobetters and biosimilars in the UK

An overview of the issues surrounding biosimilar insulins.…

Pharmacy profession had ‘limited influence’ on government policy in decade to 2017, analysis suggests

Researchers identified several areas of weakness, including transparency of evidence on which pharmacy bodies’ policies were based between 2008 and 2017.…