387 New
EU medicines legislation improves patient information New
European medicines legislation states that medicines should be
packaged with the name in Braille and that other help for visually
impaired patients should be provided. Examples include: leaflets
with large print, telephone help lines, audio versions of patient
information leaflets (PILs) made available on compact discs and
tapes, or leaflets that can be accessed via the internet more
387 Patients
to complete yellow cards The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched a UK-wide pilot to enable patients to directly report their experiences of suspected side effects from medicines through its reporting system — the yellow card scheme more
388 Medicine
errors still under-reported Incidents of medication errors in NHS
trusts are still seriously under-reported, according to a new report more
388 MRSA targets — down
to chance? Chance makes it impossible to assess reliably whether
hospitals are meeting Government targets to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) infections, according to an article in the BMJ more
388 Winners receive technician of the year awards The eighth annual AAH hospital
pharmacy technician of the year awards were presented by Ann Lewis, Secretary
and Registrar of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society at a lunch reception at the
Park Lane Hotel, London, on 14 October more
389 New job profile announced for pharmacy technicians under Agenda for Change A new job profile that covers both primary and secondary care roles has been agreed for pharmacy technicians under the Agenda for Change pay system more
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387 NEWS
IN BRIEF
Agenda for Change (AfC) may impair the growth in the number hospital
pharmacy preregistration placements. This concern was raised at a recent meeting
of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Hospital Pharmacist Group. Attendees
were concerned that trusts are not fully funded for these jobs, which have
been allocated to band 5 according to AfC, and therefore are unable to offer
preregistration placements to as many students as they would like.
Professional indemnity insurance for hospital pharmacists is a now
being offered by Pharmacists’ Professional Indemnity Ltd.
The policy was introduced in response to a growing number requests
from hospital pharmacists. Pharmacists are able to obtain legal cover
for any post within the hospital sector.
Hospital Pharmacist has appointed a new editor. Hannah Pike, MRPharmS,
was previously news and features writer for the Pharmaceutical
Journal.
She can be contacted by telephoning on 020 7572 2425 or by e-mail at
hannah.pike@pharmj.org.uk |
Hospital Pharmacist