Health news round-up: the year in health across England, Scotland and Wales A weekly summary of important developments in health news, with summaries from each of the Welsh, Scottish and English chief medical officers’ annual reports.…
All patients should undergo pharmacogenetic testing before being prescribed clopidogrel The UK Centre of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation in Pharmacogenomics has highlighted that a significant proportion of the UK population have lower CYP2C19 enzyme levels, which lower the effectiveness of the antiplatelet drug.…
Whooping cough nasal vaccine shows promise in phase II trial Researchers reported that participants who were given BPZE1 and then exposed to the whooping cough bacteria were unlikely to pass the infection on to others after day 14 post-challenge.…
Calling the shots: the pharmacists combatting vaccine misinformation Experts worry that increasing online misinformation is fuelling vaccine hesitancy — but pharmacists and their teams can help.…
Ngozi Kalu: ‘When research lacks representation, findings become biased and inequalities emerge’ As assistant director for research and evidence for the NHS Race and Health Observatory, Ngozi Kalu is at the epicentre of the organisation’s mission to end ethnic inequalities across the NHS.…
Patient access to 24/7 palliative care medicines is ‘insufficient’, finds House of Commons-commissioned report The report also suggested that there was a “postcode lottery” in integrated care board provision of palliative care and end-of-life services.…
Minimum wage increase ‘may prove unmanageable for some pharmacy owners’, leaders warn Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in the autumn budget that the minimum wage for people aged over 21 years will increase to £12.71 per hour from April 2026, while the hourly rate for people aged 18–20 years will rise to £10.85.…
Lead paediatric palliative care pharmacists should be part of local plans, says RPS In its updated palliative care policy, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society advised that families and medical colleagues would benefit from the medicines expertise of a specialist paediatric palliative care pharmacist.…
Full list of prescribing pathfinder sites and their clinical areas revealed Exclusive: Freedom of Information data from NHS England have revealed the breakdown of pathfinder sites and what clinical area they have been exploring.…
Pharmacy regulator chief executive joins from police watchdog Kathie Cashell will take up the post in March 2026 to take forward the General Pharmaceutical Council’s new strategic plan for 2025–2030.…
