Friday 13 August 2010

Making headway

This week we report from opposite ends of Britain - Scotland and the Isle of Wight - service enhancements that show that pharmacists are making real headway with the development and delivery of more convenient healthcare.

In Scotland, GBP1m has been set aside for the development of prescribing clinics by pharmacist independent and supplementary prescribers. While in the Isle of Wight, community pharmacists are to start offering long-term contraception to women who ask for emergency contraception.

Neither of these is a small step and both show that the efforts of recent years to persuade the NHS to make better use of pharmacists skills are showing fruit.

To take part in our "Search to win" competition this week (for details see below) tell us the date on which The Journal's news team reported the qualification of the first pharmacist independent prescriber (Beth Hird)

Michael Thompson
Editor, PJ Online

News this week

Adverse drug reaction reports to be made available to the public
Pharmacists to initiate long-term contraception for those requesting EHC
Pharmacy organisations meet to identify "common goals"
Total of GBP1m to fund setting up of prescribing clinics in Scotland
GBP16.9m to cover General Pharmaceutical Council's expenditure needs explanation

Clinical news

Bisphosphonates not linked with oesophageal cancer
Cases of carbapenem resistance identified in UK
Intensive glycaemic therapy to reduce microvascular complications not recommended
Vitamin B supplementation not linked with stroke prevention

Read - and comment on - all our news online

How to...

. . . enter the PJ Online "Search to win" competition - Answers to the competition should be sent to editor@pharmj.org.uk with "Search competition" in the subject line. Each week, one winner will receive a GBP25 voucher for Marks and Spencer or Amazon.co.uk.

The winner will be selected at random at 10am each Friday for the duration of the competition, and announced via the next newsletter.

Congratulations to Charles Baker, who correctly found that the date the PJ news team confirmed what the pseudoephedrine restrictions would be was 12 January 2008.

Article of the week

The Overseas Pharmacist Assessment Programme

Every year, pharmacists from all over the world apply to practise in Britain. Some of them will need to complete the Overseas Pharmacist Assessment Programme before they can proceed. Haitham Hawary explains how the programme works

Learning and Development

Delirium: a guide to a common condition

Delirium is not a benign condition — its presence predicts significantly increased morbidity and mortality, often in already vulnerable patient groups.

Mark Borthwick and Nina Barnett give an overview of delirium, its prevention, detection and treatment, highlight the latest NICE guidance, and suggest a role for pharmacists.

After reading the CPD article, why not "Check your learning"? 

Are you ready...

... to treat summer feet?

Padding around on the hot sand, paddling in an azure pool and ditching your sensible shoes for a pair of flip-flops is the stuff of summer holiday dreams, but can leave behind some foot-related nightmares.

Be it verrucas, warts, blisters, athlete's foot or fungal nail infections, this month's "Are you ready...?" helps your pharmacy team gear up for the hobbling, post-holiday footfall.

And don't forget that you can always find resources to help you prepare to assist people with other enquiries by taking a look at our Are you ready... section for previous topics.

Comment and opinion

A novice's summer placement experience
The sky's not the limit
What's exciting about the new professional leadership body?

Do you agree with our writers? You can discuss these views on PJ Online.

Visit PJ Careers to search for your perfect job

Missed your issue of the PJ?

See all live vacancies from the past three weeks and apply online at www.pjcareers.com.

You can upload your CV and set up job alerts that notify you when a job matching your requirements has been posted to the site.

PJ Careers will help you find your perfect job.

And finally...

... PJ Online agrees with the National Pharmacy Association when it says that the General Pharmaceutical Council needs to explain how it decided that it needs to spend GBP16.9m raised from pharmacists, technicians and pharmacy owners. Yes, the sum is based largely on historical expenditure by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, but it's a lot of your money and still needs to be explained and justified.