Lord Darzi: Pharmacy closures ‘a grave concern’ that must be investigated by MPs
... he overarching need to shift spending away from secondary care and towards community and primary care and prevention.
Also speaking during the session was Tom Kibasi, chairman of NHS community and Mental health providers in North West London, who supported Lord Darzi with the review.
Mr Kibasi told the committee of cross-party MPs that he wanted to see community pharmacists ‘involved in managing complex ...
Date: 20-11-2024
Categories:
• Community • News • Pharmacy First
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Sanctions for 'inadvertent dispensing' of puberty blockers will be 'proportionate and case-by-case'
... 'The absence of an identifiable, consistent referral pathway across England, Wales and Scotland hampers the ability to provide optimal care, potentially leading to significant negative impacts on the Mental health and well-being of children and young people,' the RPS said.
Pharmacists and pharmacy teams are under 'undue pressure' when faced with having to decline to supply treatment when this 'often means t ...
Date: 22-10-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Community pharmacies sound alarm over staffing shortages
... after finances (73%) and medicine supply issues (69%).
Three quarters 'barely' or 'not coping'
More than three quarters (77%) of pharmacy team members said their work was negatively impacting their Mental health and wellbeing, and one in three said they were either 'barely coping' or 'not coping at all'.
Nearly all (92%) said workload was making it hard to cope at work, 85% cited problems sourcing medicin ...
Date: 21-10-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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ARRS linked to reduced prescribing, study suggests
... tisfaction.
The study found that practices with more ARRS staff had lower prescribing rates for all prescriptions, including statins, analgesics and antibiotics, but they were particularly low for Mental health medications.
And it recognised that pharmacists were 'by far the most common [ARRS] role'.
The study also found that overall patient satisfaction was high, with patients especially satisfied wi ...
Date: 02-10-2024
Categories:
• In Practice • News
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Food insecurity puts pregnant women at risk of both mental and physical illness
Pregnant women who have limited access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food are up to four times more likely to have poor Mental health, including anxiety and depression, new research shows.
In the study, researchers found that women who were pregnant and experiencing a lack of access to good quality food, known as ‘food insecurit ...
Date: 13-09-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Nutrition and gastroenterology • Obesity & nutrition • Women's health
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Pharmacists in practice a 'positive development', finds Darzi report
... ute hospitals, for example, is to build up the capacity, capability, infrastructure and technology base of care that is delivered in the community, including general practice, community services, and Mental health services. By keeping people well for longer, they are less likely to need hospital treatment,’ he added.
However, the Darzi report noted that 'there have been positive developments in growing the ...
Date: 12-09-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Darzi report: access to pharmacies 'a great strength' but 'at risk'
... a fall).'
Lord Darzi's report said: ‘Yet the current distribution of resources is perpetually reinforced: performance standards are focused on hospitals, not on primary care, community services or Mental health, as is measurement. Single-year budgets necessarily reinforce the status quo—and when things go wrong the knee-jerk response is to throw more money at hospitals where the pressure is most apparent.’
...
Date: 11-09-2024
Categories:
• Cancer • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • Long-term conditions • Mental health and addiction • Musculoskeletal and rheumatology • News • Smoking cessation • Vaccinations and infections
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Suicide rates highest seen in 25 years, official figures show
... or Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘Every suicide is a tragedy and these figures show a clearly worrying trend, which this government is committed to reversing.
‘We know that people with Mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need. That’s why we will fix our broken health system to ensure that we give Mental health the attention and focus it deserves.
‘Alongside acting to ...
Date: 30-08-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • Community • In Practice • Mental health and addiction • News
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Pharmacist in practice: How a primary care ADHD service is 'life changing' for patients
... ects, what to look out for how to increase doses gradually, and what to look out for in terms of reviews and follow ups,’ Kelvin says.
And a team of specialist practitioners, including doctors and Mental health practitioners, are on hand within the practice to support clinicians.
He says patients describe the service as ‘life changing’.
‘There's always been a very big demand for ADHD/autism assessment ...
Date: 28-08-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • In Practice • Mental health and addiction
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Puberty blockers can still be prescribed in some cases, says NHS England
... being advised they should speak to their GP’.
In this case, the GP team should ‘offer to see any young person’ and assess whether a referral to the Children and Young People Gender Service or for Mental health support are required.
However, from 1 September, GPs will no longer be able to refer young people directly onto waiting lists for children gender services, with referrals only accepted from paedia ...
Date: 28-08-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • Community • In Practice • News
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NHS 111 to offer Mental health crisis support
NHS 111 will now provide direct support to patients experiencing a Mental health crisis, NHS England has announced.
The service expansion announced today means that patients can now call 111, select the Mental health option and speak to a Mental health professional if they are ...
Date: 27-08-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • In Practice • Mental health and addiction • News
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Lowest summer registration pass rate since 2019
... the June 2024 registration assessment page.'
Support for students who did not pass
Mr Rudkin pointed disappointed or struggling students to the charity Pharmacist Support, which provides help with Mental health and wellbeing as well as practical advice on steps like re-sits and appeals.
The Pharmacist Support website said it was 'only natural' to feel disappointed if trainees had failed the assessment.
...
Date: 30-07-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Pharmacist practice partners asked for views on GP 'collective action'
... said that planning by ICBs should take into account the ‘secondary impacts and consequences’, including potential pressure on urgent and emergency care, elective and discharge pathways and impacts on Mental health and community services.
It said: ‘It remains our hope that action will be averted. However, whilst discussions take place it is important we plan for all contingencies to keep patients safe – as w ...
Date: 23-07-2024
Categories:
• In Practice • News
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ADHD medicine prescribing on the rise, as new diagnosis test recommended
The NHS recorded substantial increases in the prescribing of a range of Mental health drugs in England last year, with a particular hike for ADHD medicine.
And this week NICE has recommended a new digital tool which could speed up ADHD diagnoses and help clinicians rule out more ca ...
Date: 17-07-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • In Practice • Mental health and addiction • News
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King’s Speech confirms tobacco and vapes bill
... e basis of need, regardless of the ability to pay’.
King Charles III also highlighted a focus on prevention, as well as efforts to reduce waiting times.
And he said the government would ‘ensure Mental health is getting the same attention and focus as physical’, including by improving Mental health provision to young people and modernising the Mental health Act.
Paul Rees, chief executive of the Nation ...
Date: 17-07-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Health and social care ministers appointed
... 2024 election manifesto, Labour pledged to ‘shift resources to primary care’ and trial Neighbourhood Health Centres which aim to ‘bring together’ existing services including district nurses, GPs and Mental health specialists.
The Labour Party has also committed to undertake ‘a programme of reform’ for social care to create a ‘National Care Service’ that will be ‘underpinned by national standards, deliverin ...
Date: 09-07-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Coroner investigates death after 'huge' quantity of drugs bought online
... sport Lucy Frazer, to take actions to prevent similar future deaths.
Hospital discharge letter 'not actioned'
Mr Dixon was a 64-year-old army veteran who had a past medical history of physical and Mental health issues, including depression, suicide attempts, being sectioned, chronic alcohol misuse, and an opioid dependence.
He was in the process of being weaned off morphine with support of his GP when he ...
Date: 09-07-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Interview: Pharmacist becomes lead GP practice partner
... e really believes in this new concept, because it is going to change the way that we manage things, you know, the right person is doing the right role.’
Bringing business acumen to general practice
Mental health crises surged in Brighton following the pandemic, and the death by suicide of a child waiting for years for an ADHD assessment prompted the practice team to set up an ADHD clinic for its patients.
...
Date: 04-07-2024
Categories:
• In Practice • Interviews
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GPs think pharmacists are the most successful ARRS role, finds survey
... kers, selected by 40% of GPs.
In contrast, clinical associates in psychology, trainee clinical associates in psychology, peer support workers, advanced dietician practitioners, and therapists (non-Mental health practitioners) were selected as most successful by just 1% of respondents.
'Great to be recognised' for 'behind the scenes' work
PCN pharmacist Melissa Dudgar said it was ‘great news’ to see PCN an ...
Date: 04-07-2024
Categories:
• In Practice • News
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Pharmacists with a disability: Standing Up for Sitting Down campaign
... ve launched our campaign: ‘It’s time to address discrimination: Standing Up for Sitting Down’.
This campaign is wider than ensuring people who need a chair have one, and encompasses all physical and Mental health conditions, neurodiversity and impairments.
Regardless of their condition, employers have a legal responsibility to provide reasonable adjustments and take reasonable steps to protect employees from ...
Date: 21-06-2024
Categories:
• Views • Views
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Labour promises Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service
... to make more care happen outside hospitals, it would ‘trial Neighbourhood Health Centres’ that bring together services like GPs, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, palliative care, and Mental health specialists ‘under one roof’.
The party also set out plans for preventative public health measures, saying: ‘Prevention will always be better, and cheaper, than a cure.’
If elected, Labour woul ...
Date: 13-06-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Medicine shortages cause ‘moral distress’ for three-in-four GPs
... to tackle, it found.
MDDUS said it wants governments across the UK to urgently investigate ‘better, more compassionate ways for pressurised medics to seek wellbeing help and speak out about their Mental health concerns’.
Dr John Holden, chief medical officer at MDDUS, said: ‘We hear regularly from doctors about the enormous pressures they face every day in the NHS, but the crisis around medicine shortag ...
Date: 12-06-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Lib Dems pledge ‘fairer, more sustainable funding’ and increased pharmacist services
... and build on the Pharmacy First approach to give patients more accessible routine services and ease the pressure on GPs’, they said.
And the party would make prescriptions for people with chronic Mental health conditions free on the NHS, as part of a wider commitment to review prescription charge exemptions.
Leyla Hannbeck, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate and chief executive of the Independent ...
Date: 10-06-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Six in 10 reduce meds after fruit and veg prescriptions
... vels, higher energy levels and better digestion, a survey found.
The charity behind the pilot in Tower Hamlets and Lambeth has called for national rollout, after reporting benefits on physical and Mental health and a reduction in GP appointments.
A report from the Alexandra Rose Charity also said that seven in ten participants in Lambeth with hypertension saw improved blood pressure measurements as recor ...
Date: 05-06-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • In Practice • News • Obesity & nutrition
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Who’s caring for those who care?
Phil Galt, a qualified pharmacist and managing director for Cegedim Rx, explores the Mental health strain that pharmacists can face and asks, who’s caring for those who care?
I’ve spent more than two decades working on the frontline of pharmacy. It’s always been a stressful environment and an ...
Date: 20-05-2024
Categories:
• Mental health and addiction • Views
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GPhC ‘working to update’ guidance for online prescribers
... have a full and complete clinical picture of the patient, only self-reported information’, said the PDA.
‘Therefore, the prescriber cannot assess the patient clinically, assess their emotional and Mental health, or have any kind of meaningful therapeutic dialogue with them,’ the expert author added.
PDA director of defence services Mark Pitt told The Pharmacist that with online weight-loss medication a g ...
Date: 08-05-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Calls to pharmacies tripled during pandemic, inquiry told
... to source and expensive, Ms Domingo said.
‘The increased demand on community pharmacy during the pandemic had a significant impact on pharmacists and their teams, resulting in stress, fatigue and Mental health issues for many NPA members,’ she added.
And she asked the Covid inquiry to consider ‘whether there was sufficient investment by government in the infrastructure needed to integrate community phar ...
Date: 12-04-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Independent experts recruited to UK pharmacy leadership board
... adership Advisory Board is made up of 19 members, including the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK, British Oncology Pharmacy Association, British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association, College of Mental health Pharmacy, Pharmacy Forum of Northern Ireland, Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA), Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), UK Clinical Pharmacy Association and a representative from the Academy of M ...
Date: 10-04-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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PDA warns pharmacy targets 'must not sacrifice quality for quantity'
... multiple Boots UK and the PDA Union Joint Consultative Committee, PDA representatives raised concerns that publishing performance reports [for Pharmacy First consultations] was impacting pharmacists' Mental health.
In response, Mo Hassam, director of Boots Stores South-East, said in a joint statement that reporting was 'useful to see spikes [in demand] and identify any additional resources needed', but adde ...
Date: 10-04-2024
Categories:
• Community • News • Pharmacy First
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GPhC: ‘Take account’ of new puberty supressing hormone policy
... e clinical appropriateness of medicines’.
He also said that pharmacies needed to be able to identify vulnerable or at risk patients who may be experiencing a ‘significant negative impact’ on their Mental health due to long waiting lists for gender incongruence or dysphoria assessment and treatment.
And he asked ‘all organisations involved in providing these types of services’ to ensure that there were ‘c ...
Date: 05-04-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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ICBs urged to consider health inequalities when reducing OTC prescribing
... educing prescribing of over the counter (OTC) items for minor and self-limiting conditions.
Though it acknowledged that some patients ‘may not be able to self-care’ for reasons including ‘medical, Mental health or social vulnerability’.
It therefore recommended integrated care boards (ICBs) ‘consider implementing services and pathways that mitigate potential negative effects on patients at risk of health ...
Date: 12-03-2024
Categories:
• Community • News • Pharmacy First
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Pharmacists need endometriosis education amid slow diagnoses, charity suggests
... medical help, ‘especially when they know the NHS is under pressure’.
‘Without a diagnosis, the disease may progress, risking permanent damage to internal organs and worsening physical symptoms and Mental health impacts,’ the report said.
But it suggested that there was a ‘demonstrable lack of awareness of endometriosis and its symptoms by healthcare practitioners, along with a lack of understanding – or ...
Date: 08-03-2024
Categories:
• Clinical • Community • News • Pain
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Community pharmacy ‘safety net’ must be protected, says CPE
... cy team members who responded in 2023, 76% reported staff shortages, 81% said they were struggling to cope due to workload pressures, and 78% reported their work was having a negative impact on their Mental health.
Date: 05-03-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Only half of pharmacists enjoy their work, survey suggests
... nd charity Pharmacist Support has found.
And nearly nine in 10 pharmacists are at high risk of burnout, the survey suggested, prompting calls to address the underlying factors contributing to poor Mental health and wellbeing.
Meanwhile, the president of the RPS has warned that ambitions to expand pharmacist prescribing services will be 'frustrated' without protected learning time.
The RPS and Pharmaci ...
Date: 22-02-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Seven in 10 back data sharing between clinicians
... ore conditions
The report highlighted the role of different professionals within primary care.
‘Although GPs are the face of primary care, they are part of a bigger system that includes nurses, Mental health specialists, pharmacists, physician associates, social prescribers, community link workers and health coaches,’ the report said.
It added: ‘Primary care works best when these health professionals ...
Date: 08-02-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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Adding GPs to ARRS not the way forward, says pharmacist partner
... 't there to take all that workload off them, they wouldn't be able to do that side of things,’ she said.
In particular, Ms Patel said that pharmacists had taken on workload around services such as Mental health medication and menopause clinics.
Once patients are diagnosed by the GP, a pharmacist can manage ongoing medication and safety checks.
‘When I first came in here nine years ago, I saw people on ...
Date: 07-02-2024
Categories:
• In Practice • Interviews • News
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‘Super-practices’ and community health centres proposed by new report
... e burden and reducing back office costs,’ the report said.
And GPs should be encouraged to be ‘more pro-active’, ‘working closely with pharmacists, nurses, social prescribers, physiotherapists and Mental health professionals’, it added.
And it highlighted technology such as eConsult, which is used by a third of GP surgeries, that can help surgeries prioritise patients and allocate them to different staff ...
Date: 07-02-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Pharmacists report rise in patients unable to collect prescriptions due to cost
... found that more than a third (35%) of respondents had seen an increase in patients declining prescriptions over the last year.
Among the medicines being declined were treatment for blood pressure, Mental health and pain relief, as well as inhalers, statins and antibiotics.
Tase Oputu, chair of the RPS in England, called on political parties to commit to a review of prescription charges, labelling the sys ...
Date: 05-02-2024
Categories:
• News
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Pharmacists surveyed on prescription charges
... harges Coalition (PCC) last year found that one in 10 respondents had skipped medications due to cost, and of those, 30% had developed an additional physical health condition, and 37% had developed a Mental health problem in addition to their original health condition.
Over half (53%) of those who missed medication due to cost had had to take time off work for worsening health.
Complete the 2024 survey f ...
Date: 16-01-2024
Categories:
• Community • News
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NHSE shares advice for listing training placements on Oriel
... offer a multi-sector rotation, defined as a rotation of 13 weeks or longer in a different sector of practice.
This could consist of a placement within the ‘NHS managed sector’, such as an acute or Mental health trust; within community pharmacy; or within a PCN, general practice or health and justice setting.
‘What that means is that [the trainee] not only gets a much more holistic training programme, but ...
Date: 16-01-2024
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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GP practice launches ‘self-care’ advent calendar to help relieve winter pressures
... g.
Several of the boxes focus on non-medicinal therapy, such as art therapy, drama therapy, and singing therapy, since the surgery employs therapists working in these areas.
And others focus on Mental health, wellness, and the importance of getting out in nature.
‘We’re on the high street in Brighton and I think a lot of people walk past and a lot of people know us in the community, so hopefully it wi ...
Date: 06-12-2023
Categories:
• In Practice • News
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Meet the Pharmacy Team of the Year Award shortlist: Haringey GP Federation clinical pharmacy team
... attended a training session developed and delivered by an LD specialist pharmacist in collaboration with a Haringey GP Federation senior clinical pharmacist, the local adult and Child and Adolescent Mental health Services (CAMHS) teams and the IPMO programme team. The training session considered current learning needs and increased confidence in de-prescribing within this cohort of patients.
What they said ...
Date: 06-12-2023
Categories:
• Analysis
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Meet the Pharmacist of the Year Award shortlist: Mohammad M Rahman
... essure and medication usage remotely. Patient data is supplied through the platform to clinicians, helping to review clinical cases and reduce waiting times.
What they said
Dr Katherine Wallek, Mental health lead and GP partner and trainer at Lewes PCN and Foundry Healthcare, said Mr Rahman is an ‘exceptionally committed professional in patient-centred care, NHS services, medicine optimisation and poly p ...
Date: 22-11-2023
Categories:
• Analysis
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New health secretary calls for ‘partnership’ across settings
... t reforms to ‘create strong and integrated care systems across England’ would be ‘a shared endeavour’, she added.
‘And it will require all of us to work in partnership. Across our acute hospitals, Mental health, community, general practice, and pharmacy,’ Ms Atkins told the conference.
While stressing the coming winter ‘will be challenging’, she told delegates: ‘I know that rising to such challenges is w ...
Date: 15-11-2023
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Pharmacy inquiry will question NHSE chief exec
... f public health messaging on avoiding harmful behaviour that contributes to poor health and consider the effectiveness of existing regulation.’
Future sessions of the prevention inquiry will cover Mental health and wellbeing; healthy eating and obesity; health inequalities; sexual health; early years and childhood; cancer prevention; and prevention of other major conditions.
Date: 09-11-2023
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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Renewed call for national non-referral smoking cessation service
... s, including pharmacists, ‘to extend the reach of stop smoking interventions’.
It may also be used to provide access to advisers in locations where smokers routinely attend, ‘such as GP surgeries, Mental health services and employers’.
And it could be used to fund stop smoking aids that are recommended by the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) and the National Institute for Health ...
Date: 09-11-2023
Categories:
• Community • News • Smoking cessation
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Ban multi-buy deals on pain relief medicine, government urged
... guidance advises retailers not to sell more than two packs in any one transaction or promote offers encouraging sales of more than one pack.
The RPS has written to Maria Caulfield MP, minister for Mental health and women’s health, and the MHRA to request that action be taken ‘as soon as possible’ to end multi-buy deals on medicines for pain relief.
Professor Claire Anderson, RPS president, said: ‘Through ...
Date: 07-11-2023
Categories:
• Clinical • News • Pain
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Tackling health inequalities: The need for ‘cultural competence’ in all services
... ‘Organisations providing health and social care services must ensure that individuals, and those who are important to them, are placed at the centre of decision-making.’
Understanding patients’ Mental health and wellbeing is also important to cultural competence, Mr Sarwar tells The Pharmacist.
‘It doesn't matter where you're from in the world, everybody has the ability to be impacted by mental healt ...
Date: 31-10-2023
Categories:
• Analysis • Community
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FIP calls for guidance on optimising skill mix
... e to the health, wellbeing, and resilience of the pharmaceutical workforce’ must also be developed, FIP suggested.
The 10 actions come as FIP has also published recommendations into supporting the Mental health and wellbeing of community pharmacy teams.
The recommendations were developed with the consensus of more than 120 delegates from over 40 countries at the Brisbane symposium, called ‘Accelerating t ...
Date: 31-10-2023
Categories:
• Community • In Practice • News
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FIP: ‘Fair compensation is a crucial aspect of Mental health support’
Expanding the profession’s scope of practice will increase pressure on pharmacists’ Mental health and wellbeing, the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) has warned.
As pharmacists move towards providing more patient-facing care, they should ‘receive adequate remuneration that reflect ...
Date: 30-10-2023
Categories:
• Community • News
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