Hospital Pharmacist
2005;12:341-342
October 2005

341 New children’s formulary — BNF for Children is launched The British National Formulary for Children (BNF-C) was launched by the Pharmaceutical Press on 20 September more

341 NICE plans faster drug guidance The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is in discussion with the Department of Health over proposals for a revised process to allow more rapid appraisal of new drugs and health technologies. This will enable NICE, in selected cases, to issue guidance shortly after a drug becomes available for use in the NHS more

342 Bacteriophages — the new antibiotics? “With increasing resistance and so few antibiotics in development, we need to look at alternative options for the treatment of bacterial infections,” said Geoff Hanlon, professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at Brighton University more

341 NEWS IN BRIEF

NHS cash shortfalls have been highlighted in a recent survey by the British Medical Association. The survey claims that three out of four NHS trusts face a cash crisis this financial year, with an average shortfall of £6.2m. A third of the 120 trusts that took part in the survey said that services would have to be cut to clear the debt. However, the NHS Confederation says pharmacy services are likely to escape any such spending cuts.

Tackling complex bioequivalence issues is the subject of a meeting on 24–26 October at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Organised by the Society, the International Pharmaceutical Federation and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the meeting will consider areas including dermatological drugs, oral inhalation products and integrating biopharmaceutics and clinical pharmacology. Further information is available from www.rpsgb.org/science

The impact of European preferences on pharmacy education in the UK will be discussed at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on 7 November.The symposium, led by the Academic Pharmacy Group and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences will reflect the many positions in Europe, offer thoughts from different perspectives and will discuss the potential impact on schools of pharmacy.

Professional indemnity insurance for hospital pharmacists is a new service offered by the Pharmacists Defence Association. Since 1 October, hospital pharmacists have been able to obtain legal cover for any pharmacy post in hospitals, ranging from basic grade to the new consultant pharmacist level.