News summary
OFT report | Branch
meetings Future
Events Conferences
213 Director
of primary care questions pharmacy's influence at national level Leading National
Health Service strategist, Dr David Colin-Thomé indicated
earlier this week that the pharmacy profession lacks strong leadership...[more]
213 Second wave of 14 LPS pilots approved The Department of
Health has approved a second wave of 14 local pharmaceutical services pilots in England. Half
of them are full proposals, the rest were preliminary...[more]
213 Regular pharmacist visits would help prescribing in general practice Regular
visits from community pharmacists to advise general practitioners about prescribing issues would
be helpful, according to a survey of GPs attitudes and behaviour towards prescribing costs...[more]
214 Study
highlights poor prescribing of antipsychotics in nursing homes Most
antipsychotics and benzodiazepines prescribed for nursing home residents are inappropriate, new
research suggests...[more]
214 Metrodin High Purity is recalled All stocks of Metrodin
High Purity (urofollitropin) are being recalled and the product is being permanently discontinued
with immediate effect...[more]
214 Mucolytics become prescribable on NHS General practitioners
have been told that they can now write National Health Service prescriptions for nine previously
blacklisted mucolytic products...[more]
214 New
look for P&MM Now that pharmacists have been given the go-ahead to prescribe, the newsletter published every two months by PJ Publications has been renamed Prescribing & Medicines Management...[more]
OFT report
215 Numark
launches lobbying campaign against OFT report Numark
has asked all its 1,550 members to lobby their Members of Parliament over the Office of Fair
Trading pharmacy report...[more]
215 End of month deadline set for written comments A deadline
of 28 February has been set by the Department of Health for interested parties to send written
comments on the Office of Fair Trading's pharmacy report for consideration in the Department's
response...[more]
215 IPMI says health before commerce Patients' needs and nothing
else should drive the distribution of community pharmacies, the Institute of Pharmacy Management
International (IPMI) has said...[more]
215 MSPs want to know who has the power to change contract controls The
Scottish Parliament's Health and Social Services Committee wants swift answers from the Scottish
Executive over who has the power to change controls over the award of National Health Service
dispensing contracts...[more]
215 EDMs gain support Three House of Commons early-day motions
expressing opposition to the Office of Fair Trading's recommendation that pharmacy contract controls
be ended have been signed by a total 80 Members of Parliament...[more]
215 All Party Pharmacy Group: GPs oppose deregulation General
practitioners have added their voice to the criticisms of the Office of Fair Trading report...[more]
Other news
216 Aviation
safety rules can be adapted to prevent outpatient medical errors Aviation safety
principles can be adapted to outpatient care to prevent errors through risk management, a study
shows...[more]
216 Training in medicines information should start in schools, says CA Medicines
information should be incorporated into the school curriculum as one way of improving the information
patients have about their medical treatments, according to the Consumers' Association...[more]
216 Welsh GPs able to prescribe more CDs by instalments General
practitioners in Wales are now able to prescribe a wider range of Controlled Drugs by instalments
for the treatment of addiction...[more]
216 CRHCP chairwoman appointed Jane Wesson will be the first
chairwoman of the new overarching Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals when
it is established on 1 April...[more]
217 Interferons:
long-term effects uncertain The clinical effect
of interferons in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis is uncertain beyond one year, a new
review indicates...[more]
217 Ibuprofen's inhibition of aspirin protection leads to patients' deaths Research
showing that ibuprofen leads to inhibition of aspirin's cardioprotective effects has been borne
out by new mortality data...[more]
217 Progesterone analogue promising for preventing pre-term births HYDROXYPROGESTERONE
caproate (Proluton Depot) prevents pre-term births in women at high risk of giving birth early,
researchers report...[more]
217 Drug-resistant seizures can take years to develop Early
successful treatment and control of seizures with anti-epilepsy drugs does not necessarily indicate
that seizures will continue to be controlled in the future, say American researchers...[more]
218 Eastbourne
PCT launches campaign to reduce repeat prescribing waste "Order
only what you need once a month" is the message for a repeat prescribing campaign launched
last week by Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust...[more]
218 Vets start consulting on modernisation The Royal College
of Veterinary Surgeons is consulting its members on the future regulation of the profession...[more]
218 Common model to be sought for electronic prescription transfer Following the completion of the first phase of the English ETP pilot trials in December, the three consortia — E-script (formerly Pharmacy2u), Flexiscript and TransScript — are now in discussions with the Department of Health and the Prescription Pricing Authority...[more]
218 Irish plan to cap multiple contracts A cap on the allocation
of health board dispensing contracts is being recommended in the Irish Republic to prevent multiple
companies dominating the pharmacy market...[more]
219 Pharmacists
visit 10 Downing Street Two pharmaceutical advisers
joined around 200 other health care professionals at a reception hosted by the Prime Minister
(Tony Blair) at 10 Downing Street earlier this month...[more]
219 Pharmacists to test men for chlamydia infection Community
pharmacists are to be involved in a project to encourage men to be tested for chlamydia and,
if necessary, to seek treatment...[more]
219 Plan for NiQuitin CQ lozenges to go GSL NiQuitin CQ 4mg
lozenges, plain and mint, look likely to be reclassified as a general sale list medicine...[more]
219 Prescription fraud fee up The reward fee payable to community pharmacists in England and Wales who report fraudulent National Health Service prescriptions or give information leading to an investigation into pharmaceutical patient fraud rose from £10 to £70 on 1 February...[more] |
