Content to collaborate
April 2012
Close professional relationships are often formed in response to organisational challenges. This issue’s VIEWPOINT article is a case in point. Two independent prescriber pharmacists in the Isle of Man describe how they have developed their skills to support patients with cancer
The role of an observer
March 2012
Since you are reading this issue of Clinical Pharmacist, you will already have renewed your Royal Pharmaceutical Society membership — or, perhaps, are still taking some time to consider the benefits of staying involvedWhat it says on the tin
February 2012
What do you expect to see when you open Clinical Pharmacist? What do you look forward to reading most in each issue?Lesson is the same for us all
January 2012
New year’s resolutions tend to be short-lived. Goals like abstaining from eating potato crisps are unlikely to be sustainable (take it from me) or life-changing (unless, like me, you have a serious penchant for savoury snacks).
Strikes, QIPP, job uncertainty. What next?
December 2011
It seems like the theme of this year has been cuts. For NHS pharmacists these are being felt personally and professionally (pay freezes, pension proposals and the on-call debacle spring to mind).
“A big shift from where we are now”
November 2011
The Health and Social Care Bill is some way along its passage through the House of Lords. So it appears the NHS in England will indeed go through many of the Government’s proposed changes
Stepping up surveillance
October 2011
We do our best to keep track of what pharmacists are doing at the coalface. We have a reliable network of “spies”, who help us stay up to date with service developments around the country, but we are always considering ways to improve our intelligence
Helping you put guidance into practice
September 2011
Several months ago Clinical Pharmacist was approached by NICE to collaborate on a new series of articles, designed to help disseminate its latest clinical guidelines. And so we came up with a format that we believed would be both informative and digestible for pharmacists
Why fried chicken won't help the NHS
July/August 2011
A lot of people are struggling to make ends meet; however, that’s not taking into account the value, health-wise, of spending a bit more money on a well balanced diet — versus a lifetime of ridiculously cheap take-aways
What is a leader to you?
June 2011
Strong leadership within pharmacy is crucial. So it is good to see pharmacy leaders representing the profession in the media more and more. Take a look at www.rpharms.com/what-s-happening-/news.asp to see what’s been going on.
Welcome news all round
May 2011
Back in my university days, one of my flatmates was in need of some bedside furniture. Off he drove to Ikea and came back with a couple of sets of drawers. Flat-packed. He called “the team” to share the exciting news (the rest of us flatmates were out at lectures). He agreed to wait until we got home before tackling the assembly — brave is the person who attempts to build something so complex without the necessary advice and input!
A professional spring clean
April 2011Back in the days before the CPD cycle and online records existed, pharmacists tended to keep all their professional bits and bobs together in a file to access when the need arose. Sure, building a professional portfolio is de rigueur for colleagues in the midst of a clinical diploma or those working towards a consultant-level position. But we wonder how many other pharmacists are still collecting evidence of their competence, learning and development in a systematic way
Is patient safety in Never Never Land?
March 2011We have watched patient safety grow up, really, since the National Patient Safety Agency and its National Reporting and Learning Service were created a decade ago. These, and similar programmes in Scotland, have fostered a culture that encourages reporting of safety incidents within UK healthcare organisations
Ideas for you to record
February 2011You are part way through a spot of continuing professional development and already have questions in mind about how you might go about recording the activity to meet the requirements of the General Pharmaceutical Council
You don’t just “have a role” — show the proof
January 2011“Pharmacists have a key role to play” — if the Clinical Pharmacist team had a pound for every time we heard those words we would be wealthy pharmaceutical journalists indeed. But it risks becoming a bugbear
Get out what you put in
December 2010Get involved. For busy professionals that’s often easier said than done. Yet for those pharmacists who throw themselves into professional activities the expression “you only get out what you put in” will certainly ring true
Research has a bright future
November 2010History has shown that when it comes to medical research the scientific community does not always get it right. We can highlight, for instance, failings by the pharmaceutical industry in recent years to reveal, fully, data that may raise questions about the safety of certain new drugs
Let’s not start from scratch
October 2010When you read this there will be a new pharmacy regulator (the General Pharmaceutical Council) and a new Royal Pharmaceutical Society — a voluntary membership organisation with the same name but whose remit, at least, is vastly different from that of the defunct body
Bend or break
September 2010How far can something be bent before it breaks? We are thinking about the NHS, for which so many changes have been proposed since the Government came into power in May 2010. Let us recap
Score for patients, loss for the NHS
July 2010We now have evidence that patient access schemes are overly burdensome for the NHS and that some organisations are struggling to administer the schemes and secure the money that is owed to them by manufacturers
The magic of marketing
June 2010Nothing can get your message out there like a good marketing campaign. Plenty of products and services come to mind that people simply wouldn’t know a thing about if it weren’t for their successful promotion — comparethemeerkat.com, 118118, the new (old) Wispa, to name a few
There is much to reconcile
May 2010 You are working in a community pharmacy and one of your patients tells you she has a cold. It’s not just her twisted hands that reveal she has rheumatoid arthritis — she’s a regular and you’ve been dispensing her methotrexate tablets for over a year. You let her know that a mild respiratory infection is OK, but to contact her doctor if the situation gets worse (in case the infection is related to her methotrexate therapy)
Unsurprising, yet oddly reassuring
April 2010At the recent European Association of Hospital Pharmacists congress in Nice, France, Clinical Pharmacist heard about the challenges faced in many European countries around providing seamless care to patients as they move between hospital and community.
Dare to ask the questions
March 2010They say change is inevitable. Yet it is amazing how hard some individuals try to remain in their comfort zone. Often, people do not think to question the status quo in the first place
Safe or sorry
February 2010We have all heard frightening stories of someone being admitted to hospital essentially healthy but not surviving the visit because of an error made by hospital staff — all the more upsetting when it is a child. Recently published research has highlighted just how common prescribing and administration errors appear to be in paediatric wards
A resolution for patients and pharmacists
January 2010’Tis the time of year for resolutions to be made. Indeed, talk of “more exercise” and “less pinot grigio” is usually only mentioned in earshot of the Clinical Pharmacist desk during the month of January
Staffing woes could spoil the plans for high-level practice
December 2009So now we have some idea of how advanced and specialist practice might be accredited by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society when it relaunches as pharmacy’s new professional body next year (2010). Frameworks developed by the Competency Development and Evaluation Group are to be adopted by the Society and pharmacists practising at higher levels will be recognised accordingly
How we are boosting our e-offering
November 2009Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Bebo, Flickr, Twitter … the list of social networking and “new media” websites is expanding week on week. Deciding whether or not, and indeed which one, to join can be daunting. Only the e-savviest of pharmacists (or maybe your next door neighbours’ kids) will care to be members of the lot
Just what the NHS needs
October 2009“Quality, innovation, productivity, prevention” — four words central to seeing the NHS through the tough financial times ahead, suggested the Department of Health’s national clinical director for hospital pharmacy (England) at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester last month (September 2009). Martin Stephens called on pharmacists to make the concept — he referred to it as QIPP — part of everything they do
Ignorance ain't bliss
September 2009Whatever your view on recreational substance use (Clinical Pharmacist has been known to drink close to a litre of coffee most mornings — for pleasure, not out of necessity), surveys have suggested that roughly a third of adults have used illicit drugs at least once in their lives
We all need somebody to lean on
July/August 2009“We all need somebody to lean on” — could not be more relevant to pharmacists who are working to develop their skills, and should serve as a reminder to those who could assist their colleagues better. Team working and collaboration are key — a theme we have observed in this issue of Clinical Pharmacist
Listen and learn
June 2009At university we sat through hours of lectures — some well digested, others not — and attended many a tutorial and laboratory session. At exam time we were reminded just how important it was to listen to what the lecturer said in class, not just learn from the textbook
Who should be able to practise
May 2009Sunday 19 April 2009 saw the first special general meeting of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in over five years take place. While London was enjoying some much needed sunshine, 137 Society members met to debate and cast votes on motions relating to the Society’s response to the draft Pharmacy Order 2009. Among the issues debated was the wider definition of “practising” (eg, to encompass pharmacists working in academic, industrial or consulting roles) proposed in the impending Order
