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Andy Murdock: PCT short-termism makes no sense Reports that PCTs are scrapping minor ailments schemes in a bid to cut costs says more about the asymmetry of primary healthcare funding than it does about the value of the schemes themselves. The Web Hunter: We want to hear from you In the modern world of publishing, room in print has become scarcer and competition to appear in the printed word has become fierce. Sue Sharpe: Deliver more for less by improving adherence Adherence services should be seen as a fundamental part of pharmacy's role, not as a 'nice-to-have' clinical add-on Xrayser: Why have they reinvented the NHS wheel?
No need for aspirin when flying
Air travel poses no significant threat to cardiovascular health for most patients, according to media outlets this week. So what does this mean for sunseekers preparing to jet off on their summer holidays when it comes to preventing DVT? Xrayser: Making the best decisions – do the maths 15/07/2010
The Victorian pharmacist: German views Earnest advice on not pressing corks with the teeth, holding powder-envelopes in the mouth or shaking up mixtures with the finger over the mouth of the bottle and a firm recommendation that no dispenser should come to work in his dressing-gown and slippers. Dealing with decriminalisation disappointment 01/07/2010 A deal to decriminalise dispensing errors has been on and off more often than teenage sweethearts. David Reissner: Where was RPSGB during Lee prosecution? 07/07/2010 The RPSGB should have a better understanding than the Crown Prosecution Service of whether a case merits prosecution, but the Society stopped bringing prosecutions a long time ago. The Society’s abdication of responsibility left a vacuum that the less well-informed CPS has filled. Clinical debate: rich-poor gap hints at new role 08/07/2010 Last week, the nationals revelled in old cliches about the health differences between rich and poor after the National Audit Office (NAO) exposed a gulf in patient health. Reading between the lines of the report, it could be the government intends for pharmacy to play a substantial role in the solution to this public health puzzle. Terry Maguire: Paying the price for free prescriptions 02/07/2010 Since April 1, when Northern Ireland (NI) abolished prescription charges, there has been surprisingly little media attention. Mike Smith: Time for sector to make a stand 11/06/2010 With the NHS financial landscape looking decidedly bleak, Alliance Healthcare chairman Mike Smith believes only a united pharmacy front will see the sector survive Mark James: DH action or pharmacy unity - which first? 10/06/2010
Another year and we have yet another pharmacy minister at the Department of Health. I wonder how long before we hear the first speech praising pharmacy, but offering no concrete commitments. The Web Hunter: small should be beautiful I got married a fortnight ago and for our honeymoon my wife and I went to Venice, a wondrous city full of fantastic architecture, tiny canals, expensive food and con-artist gondoliers. Coalition health policy: more of the same? 27/05/2010 There’s been precious little mention of pharmacy’s role in long-term conditions or public health – actually, there’s been zero mention of pharmacy’s role in any of the government’s health policy documents. Nick Barber: In search of the entrepreneurial spirit 28/05/2010 I have spent a remarkable few weeks filming The Victorian Pharmacy for BBC2. It has been great fun... what came over to me most strongly was the entrepreneurial spirit of the Victorian pharmacists.
Sue Sharpe: No guarantees for pharmacy in Lib-Con NHS 21/05/2010
It has been a cataclysmic fortnight in Westminster and a remarkable few months for British politics. We are undoubtedly in uncharted political waters. But as our politicians get back to the business of governing, we must assess what this election means for pharmacy. More needs to be done to relieve workplace pressure
The Web Hunter: online hustings were an excellent spectacle By the time you read this, David Cameron will be the new prime minister and we might even have a new opposition party for the first time in 88 years Smoking bans have no effect? Do the maths 13/05/2010 In a new series, C+D’s Chris Chapman looks at the evidence behind the headlines. This week, he looks at the figures behind smoking bans. Terry Maguire: Regulating homeopathic remedies 29/04/2010
My attempts over the past few years to ridicule colleagues who support and promote homeopathic remedies and to get them to stop seemed to amount to nothing. I had, I thought, completely misjudged the extent of human credulity...
Sue Sharpe: This is no time for complacency 24/03/2010 At last week’s Community Pharmacy Conference, I was struck by how far our profession has come in the past 10 years... community pharmacy is at the heart of the health policy agenda in a way it has never been before.
Ravi's Blog: students count the cost of OTC medicine 29/03/2010 Two female university students came in together to the pharmacy today for ‘the morning after pill’. Without getting into the debacle of asking whether it was a coincidence they both needed emergency contraceptives at the same time, I simply made sure their requests suited the criteria. Mike Hewitson: A tale of two pharmacies which are you? 24/02/2010 Imagine two identical pharmacies in two different PCTs. The first has a very pro-pharmacy PCT; the second exists in a wasteland where monies negotiated at national level for pharmacy are diverted to fill the PCT’s financial black hole. But how can some PCTs be allowed to effectively opt out of a national funding deal to balance their own books?
One rule for doctors, another for the rest 18/02/2010 If you’ve read my jottings about pharmacy’s disciplinary procedures, you will know I have not always been complimentary about them.
Xrayser: Its not easy being perfect 11/02/2010
When evidence doesnt match reality 11/02/2010 Should community and hospital pharmacists have separate leadership bodies? 11/02/2010 It is regrettable that the new professional leadership body (PLB) has got off to a potentially inauspicious start for an organisation that is intended to be the representative body for the whole of pharmacy, Colin Rodden writes. We cant afford not to pay the cost of advice 03/02/2010
Making POM to P switches a surefire success 03/02/2010
Ravi's Blog: Did good propaganda sway Boards' election? 02/02/2010
Sue Sharpe: Do your bit to help the cost of service inquiry 27/01/2010
David Reissner: Casting a legal eye over 2009 21/01/2010
Richard Smith: Will 2010 be a good year for pharmacy? 13/01/2010
David Reissner: Testing time for necessary or expedient rules 16/12/2009
Sue Sharpe: A first for pharmacy - an inter-party love in 09/12/2009
Terry Maguire: Will it be a brave new world? 25/11/2009
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Xrayser: We need a Mary Portas -style shake-up 07/07/2010 A while ago, an NPA friend asked if I fancied having Mary Portas come round. If you are not familiar with this lady, you can catch her TV programme on Monday nights, where she acts as a sort of troubleshooter on high street shops... Perhaps we do need Mary Portas to shake us up, not just individually but as a profession. Sir |
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We all know that public services can only ever improve, and new policies must always be an advancement, so a radical shake-up of the NHS was inevitable – after all, a new government can’t just put its feet up and say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”, so we have to have yet another white paper – this parliament’s attempt to reinvent the NHS wheel. 
“If you were to spend the rest of your life with your peeing condition the way it is now, how would you feel about that?” An odd question for Mrs Xrayser to ask me, especially at work…
Twice the bridesmaid. In the English Board Elections, in both the open and academic sections, I got more votes than anyone else – anyone who was not elected, that is. In each case I was beaten by candidates who are against remote supervision. 
I walked into the pharmacy this morning, and saw another sackful of returned drugs. I feel like showing our overflowing drug disposal bins to every patient who raves about the current drug shortage and saying: “Help yourself to some of the £100 million worth that goes unused.” With such anxieties, why is medicines adherence such a problem?
For reasons unknown, I was recently invited to an MHRA meeting to investigate how the public might get better access to medicines.
I was not surprised to read who won the seats for the England and Wales Pharmacy Boards given all the 'encouragement' to solely vote for these particular candidates.
What a year 2009 was! The MHRA issued guidance trying to stop exporting. The NHS Counter Fraud Service began investigating specials. The Medicines Act was amended to bring in a requirement for responsible pharmacists. The National Health Service Act was amended to introduce as from this year a new control of entry test. But the most prominent legal issues faced by pharmacists in 2009 were in the criminal courts...
A precarious financial situation, a likely change of leadership and a series of seemingly impossible choices. I could be talking about Britain in 2010 or about pharmacy in the year ahead. Take your pick...
PSNC’s community pharmacy question time last week marked the first time all three parties have fielded representatives to publicly debate pharmacy issues. I was joined by...