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Leading Articles PDF (55K) 698
A pill every day 698
Text
Plans to switch simvastatin from a prescription only medicine to a pharmacy medicine have been rumoured for some months. Now that consultation on the switch has been announced, there is a strong likelihood that it will happen by next summer
In the right corner 698
Text
A change in the culture in the health service so that mistakes can be reported and colleagues can learn to avoid making similar errors, without blame being instantly apportioned, is one of the aims of the National Patient Safety Agency. The agency has just produced a seven-point guide to patient safety and the first of four articles about the agency and its plans to roll out a national reporting and learning system next year is published this week
News & Features 699-706
News summary 669-704
Text PDF (440K)
Statin set to become next big POM-to-P switch: is this good news for patients? 705
Text PDF (60K)
The Government has announced the launch of a two-month consultation on the reclassification of simvastatin from prescription only to pharmacy medicine.
Harriet Adcock examines some initial responses
What happens next, now that the new contract framework has been agreed? 706
Text PDF (85K)
A clear majority of pharmacy contractors have voted to accept the planned framework for the new pharmacy contract in England and Wales. But their acceptance is conditional on fair funding, an acceptable contractual environment and suitable transition arrrangements. Michael Thompson and Jonathan Buisson find out what will happen next
Products PDF (90K) 707
• Products Text 707
• Announcements Text 707
• Drug tariff updates Text
• Recalls & Drug alerts Text
Broad Spectrum 708
Crying wolf! Why computerised drug interaction alerts need an overhaul 708
Text PDF (55K)
By John Wilson
Recently I have been contemplating the problems of prescribing errors and the responsibility of the pharmacist to intercept any such errors before they reach the patient and possibly cause harm
Letters PDF (120K) 709-714
Text
Dispensing / EpiPens / Pharmacy practice / Oxygen cylinders / Overseas registration / Statutory Committee / The branches / The Council / The Charter
Agenda for 2003 715
Agenda series
Just look at the benefits supplementary prescribing could bring to older
people 715
Text PDF (50K)
Nina Barnett, pharmacy adviser for older people at London, Eastern and South East Specialist pharmacy services, explains why pharmacists working with older people are ideally placed to take up supplementary prescribing to improve services for older people
Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) 716-718
Recent articles
Pharmacoeconomics series
(2) Economic evaluations 716-718
PDF (90K)
By Rachael Fleurence, MSc
This second article on pharmacoeconomics gives an overview of how to assess the quality of
an economic evaluation and discusses how economic evaluations are used to influence t he provision health care
Articles 719-722
National Reporting and Learning System series
National Reporting and Learning is crucial for better patient safety 719
Text PDF (60K)
The National Patient Safety Agency will be rolling out the new National Reporting and Learning System for National Health Service-funded health care in England and Wales during the next year. In the first of four articles, Wendy Harris, senior pharmacist at the NPSA, reviews the evidence on reporting and reflects on the role pharmacists can play
How to guide patients through the information maze on the internet 720-722
PDF (120K)
By Bridget Coleman, MSc, MRPharmS
In this article the author discusses how consumers use the internet to obtain health information and describes ways in which pharmacists can help them make sense of it
Reviews PDF (75K) 723
How drugs work: basic pharmacology for healthcare professionals by Hugh McGavock Text
Plant based nutrition and health by Stephen Walsh Text
Prodigy evidence-based clinical guidance edited by Ian Purves and Sharon Smart Text
Onlooker PDF (70K) 724
Beautiful bane During late summer there was much controversy in my local press regarding the peril which the common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) presents to grazing cattle and, particularly, to browsing horses in fields where it becomes exuberant. Much ill-informed criticism of the plant comes from horse-owners who, I find, are highly sensitive to anything that can be made out to threaten the welfare of their beasts Text
Tracking the SARS virus So far, the reservoir of infection from which severe acute respiratory syndrome has affected humans is not known with any accuracy. The coronavirus involved, or one closely allied to it, has indeed been claimed to occur in the Chinese ferret, the badger, the masked palm civet, the raccoon dog and the domestic cat Text
Truth and falsehood One of the fascinating books on my library shelves is ‘Straight and crooked thinking’ by Robert H. Thouless, and now and then I feel inclined to look
into it once again. It is antique by modern standards, having originally been published in September 1930 Text
The Society PDF (110K) 725-728
Charter links and articles
News
• Report recommends ways to nurture innovation in community pharmacy Text 725
• Newsletter highlights supplementary prescribing opportunities in
Wales Text 725
• Christmas gifts from the museum Text 725
Law and Ethics Bulletin 2001
to present
New Home Office telephone number for confirming practitioners' CD status Text 726
Obituaries & tributes Text 726-727
Society meetings Text
Process analytical technology workshop (4 December) 728
Diary Text
• Branch meetings Text 728
• Society meetings Text 728
• Future events Text
• Conferences Text
• Reunions Text |
Front Cover Picture
A Government proposal could lead to simvastatin becoming
available without prescription as a pharmacy medicine within six months
A news
feature assesses initial reactions to the proposal
See also
Leading Article
New contract
A news
feature looks at the work still to be done on a new community
pharmacy contract in England and Wales following agreement on a framework
for a three-tier contract
Economic evaluations
Our second continuing professional development article on pharmacoeconomics
gives an overview of how to assess the quality of an economic evaluation
(PDF 90K)
Patient safety
The first
of four articles from the National Patient Safety Agency discusses
the development of its National Reporting and Learning System and reflects
on the role of pharmacists in reporting incidents and in helping with
solutions. However, the proposed blame-free
culture favoured
by the NPSA has come under fire from the new Council for the Regulation
of Healthcare Professionals
See also
Leading Article
Patients and the internet
With consumers increasingly using the internet to obtain health information,
an article describes ways in which pharmacists can help them to make
sense of it (PDF 120K) |
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