Hospital Pharmacist
2006;13:349-350
November 2006

349 Framework for independent prescribing published by NPC A new competency framework for prescribing pharmacists has been developed by the National Prescribing Centre, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Department of Health and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
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349 Hospitals fail to comply with NICE nutrition guidelines Less than half of all UK hospitals have put in place multidisciplinary nutrition support teams to co-ordinate nutritional care for their patients
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349 Life-long Learning series winners are announced Alison Stribling, senior pharmacist for technical and cancer services at North Devon District Hospital, has been awarded first prize in Hospital Pharmacist's 2005/06 Life-long Learning series, sponsored by Mayne Pharma
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350 Large-scale study of ADEs in US reported Adverse drug events (ADEs) account for about 2.5 per cent of visits to emergency departments in US hospitals for unintentional injuries, according to a large-scale study published
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350 Performance ratings out for English trusts Last month saw the publication of annual health check ratings for all NHS trusts in England, as assessed from April 2005 to March 2006
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349 NEWS IN BRIEF
Hospital Pharmacist 2006;13:349

Final guidance (PDF 80K) about changes to record keeping for Controlled Drugs has been published by the Department of Health, along with interim guidance (PDF 70K) on the destruction of CDs.

Mobile telephone use does not generally interfere with sensitive medical equipment, according to an article published in the BMJ (2006;333:767-8). Rather, the authors suggest that pharmacists and doctors should use mobile telephones rather than pagers, because this would result in fewer delays in communication.

Sir Derek Wanless is to revisit his 2002 NHS funding report, commissioned by the King’s Fund. He will look at what has worked well and suggest the way forward in areas where he does not believe that money has been spent productively.

Routes to registration as a pharmacist in New Zealand for practitioners registered in various countries, including the UK, have been published by the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand. See www.pharmacycouncil.org.nz for further details.

Principles of good corporate governance are set out in a new code for NHS Foundation Trusts, compiled by Monitor (PDF 240K).

Evidence submitted by the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists to the NHS pay review body can now be viewed at www.ghp.org.uk. The Guild, together with its parent union, Amicus, is also involved in the “NHS together” campaign. This campaign included a lobby of parliament by health care workers earlier this month.