News

New science fact sheets for pharmacists
Society seeks greater emphasis on drug delivery research
Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology goes on-line
New range of museum postcards and greetings cards
New bibliographies from Society's Information Centre
Inspectors' presentations for preregistration trainees

New science fact sheets for pharmacists

Two new information sheets have been produced by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Science Committee as part of its “Scientist in the high street” campaign.

The new documents are designed to provide practising pharmacists with information on one of the oldest forms of therapy, herbal medicines, and one of the newest, pharmacogenomics.

The “Scientist in the high street” campaign is designed to raise the public profile of pharmacy as the embodiment of science in the high street. The series of information sheets will be extended to cover a range of high-profile topics on which pharmacists, through science, can help educate and inform public opinion.

The herbal products fact sheet gives information on matters such as the efficacy, quality and safety of herbal materials. It also gives contact details for a number of herbal medicine organisations and a brief bibliography of books on herbal medicine.

The herbal products document is the second in a series on complementary and alternative therapies, produced by the committee's working group on complementary medicine. It follows a fact sheet on aromatherapy launched at last year's British Pharmaceutical Conference (PJ, September 16, 2000, p403). Information sheets in preparation include a series on interactions between herbal products and medicines, which will begin with St John's wort.

The pharmacogenetics information sheet explains the impact that pharmacogenomics will have on drug therapy. It describes the way in which genomics research is being used in developing novel diagnostic kits, in selecting the best therapeutic agent and dosage to fit the patient's genetic make-up, in finding specific targets for medicines and in determining how rapidly individual patients metabolise drugs.

The pharmacogenomics fact sheet is the first of a series on new technologies. The next fact sheet is expected to cover the switch to chlorofluorocarbon-free metered dose inhalers.

The information sheets are printed on A4-size card. The herbal products card is being sent out with this week's Journal to pharmacists who are listed with the Society as being in community or hospital practice. The genomics card is to be distributed with a future issue of The Journal. Both fact sheets (and the earlier aromatherapy fact sheet) are also available from the Society's website as downloadable PDF files.

Pharmacists who do not receive copies of the cards can obtain them by sending a stamped, self-addressed C4 envelope to Ms Karen Elder.

Science reception

Launching the pharmacogenomics information sheet on March 5 at a reception attended by pharmaceutical scientists and representatives of Government agencies and departments, Professor William Dawson (chairman of the Science Committee) said that the next decade would see much more complicated products, and great interpersonal skills would be needed to translate them into the real world in which patients lived.

Patients needed to be comfortable with pharmacists if they were to take scientific guidance from them. It was therefore important that pharmacy training encompassed new science. The Society would use the “Scientist in the high street” initiative in developing its active continuing professional development programme to include topics such as genomics.

Professor Dawson added that the information sheet was not meant as “erudite dissertation on genomics for the cognoscenti”. It was meant to be an awareness document to guide pharmacists in using genomics for the benefit of their patients.

The principal guest at the reception was Lord Sainsbury (Minister of State for Science), who said that he was delighted that pharmacists were ready to take an active part in encouraging science in the high street, especially because pharmacists were a highly respected group of people in society. A recent public consultation on developments in the biosciences had shown that 56 per cent of the public would trust pharmacists to make a decision on the regulation of biological sciences. That might not seem a high figure but it was in fact the highest of any group, far higher than “scientists” and way ahead of politicians.

It had been said that ordinary people were interested in the destination of science whereas scientists were interested in the journey itself. Scientists needed to talk more about what science meant for people's lives if society was to accept the advances of science. Pharmacists, at the interface with the public, had a particular role in doing that.

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Society seeks greater emphasis on drug delivery research

Society seeks greater emphasis on drug delivery research The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is calling for focused, fundamental research into the biological barriers to drug delivery. A new discussion document, prepared by the Society's working party on drug delivery, says that research is needed to achieve a greater understanding of the biological fate and the targeting of drugs, particularly biopharmaceuticals, macromolecules and macromolecular delivery systems, and to investigate their properties and how they are modified within a biological environment.

Research is also needed, the report says, to promote the development of novel materials and delivery systems that will overcome these biological barriers. The document makes a number of specific recommendations aimed at achieving an increased emphasis on drug delivery research.

The document was launched at the Society's science reception on March 5. It is to be used it in discussions with a range of agencies such as research councils, academic institutions, Government departments and pharmaceutical companies.

Enquiries about the purchase of “UK drug delivery research: the way forward in the new millennium” should be addressed to Ms Karen Elder.

Ms Karen Elder
Scientific and Technical Services Unit
Royal Pharmaceutical Society
1 Lambeth High Street
London SE1 7JN

Tel 020 7735 9141 ext 289
e-mail kelder@rpsgb.org.uk

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Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology goes on-line

The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology — the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's pharmaceutical sciences journal — is now available on-line at www.pharmpress.com/jpp.

Access to the full text of articles and papers will be free to JPP subscribers and to members of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Great Britain. Other users will be able to purchase them on a pay-per-view basis. Visitors to the site will be able to access abstracts of original research papers and review articles published by the journal as well as feature articles, editorials and book reviews.

A search facility will allow users to search the journal's archives for data. Information on the submission of work and subscribing to the journal will also be available.

The site also includes links to other websites, such as the Pharmaceutical Press, the Society and the British Pharmaceutical Conference.

The Society's chief scientist, Professor Tony Moffat, said: “The new website is a brilliant innovation which shows that the JPP is at the forefront of technological advances. The layout is clear and easy to use with an excellent search facility.”

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New range of museum postcards and greetings cards

New range of museum postcards and greetings cards A new range of postcards and greetings cards has been produced by the museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. All the images have been chosen from the museum's collections.

Chosen to give “a fascinating glimpse into pharmacy history,” the illustrations on the 24 postcards and four greetings cards include satirical 19th century caricatures poking fun at medics and their patients, botanical bookplates, illustrated pages from wholesalers' trade catalogues, old photographs showing traditional pharmacies and pharmacy workshops, and photographs of drug storage jars and dispensary tools from the museum's displays.

The full range of cards may be purchased at the issue desk of the Society's library at Lambeth. The postcards cost 35p each and the A6-sized, blank greetings cards with envelopes cost 80p.

Sets of cards may also be purchased by mail order. A set containing one postcard in each of the 24 designs costs £9. Themed postcard sets containing either six pharmacy interior designs or six caricature designs cost £3. A set of eight greetings cards (two of each design) costs £8. All prices include VAT and postage and packaging (United Kingdom or overseas). The museum cannot accept orders for single cards. Enquiries about mail order purchase should be addressed to the museum office (tel 020 7735 9141 ext 354). An order form can be downloaded from the museum pages of the Society's website (www.rpsgb.org.uk).

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New bibliographies from Society's Information Centre

New bibliographies from Society's Information Centre To complement its series of printed bibliographies, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Information Centre has developed a range of mini-bibliographies on topical subjects. Many of them have been produced as support information on pharmacy services detailed in the Government document “Pharmacy in the future: Implementing the NHS plan”.

Among the new subjects covered are supervised administration of methadone, access to medicines out of hours in primary care, NHS walk-in centres, ethical dilemmas, “special” order products, and pharmacists' role in smoking cessation.

Another new title, “Law and Ethics Bulletins”, gives short summaries of all the Society's Law and Ethics Bulletin announcements published in The Pharmaceutical Journal since 1992. It is intended to provide a handy and concise way of locating the source reference for pharmacists who need to refer to copies of the original bulletins for the Society's advice on legal and ethical topics. The list provides over 100 such references to the relevant issue of The Journal.

The new titles have been produced using the Information Centre's published e-PIC database. The series of titles is called “RPS e-PIC references”. The titles are free to download as PDF files from the technical information service pages of the Society's website. Pharmacists without internet access can purchase printed copies for a small charge. Further information about purchase is available from the Information Centre (tel 020 7735 9141 ext 336/338; e-mail techinfo@rpsgb.org.uk).

The Information Centre has also recently updated two of the titles in the main series of bibliographies, namely, “Diagnostic testing in community pharmacy” and “Business and management in community pharmacy”. The latter now contains business information contact details and relevant internet sites for further information, such as the Inland Revenue site.

There are now seven titles in the series. Each costs £10 to members and £20 to non-members.

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Inspectors' presentations for preregistration trainees

Each year, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's inspectors organise a series of half-day presentations for preregistration trainees. The aim is to explain the inspector's own role and that of the Society's Professional Standards Directorate, so that trainees can gain an understanding of the help and support available to pharmacists from those sources.

Because there are comparatively few preregistration trainees in 2000-01, this year's presentations take place at only six venues. The informal sessions are open to all preregistration trainees, whether in community or hospital practice or in academia or industry during split preregistration years. Trainees may attend the presentation of their own choice and there is no need for them to reserve a place in advance. There is no charge to the trainee or the tutor for the presentation, although the trainee's travelling costs will have to be met by the trainee or employer.

The venues and dates for the presentations are set out below, with the name of the organising inspector. Details have already been sent to all preregistration trainees and tutors. Any queries about the sessions should be addressed to the Professional Standards Directorate.

Inspectors' presentations 2000-01