VisualField/iStockphoto.com
Articles here are classified as “Other topics” as they do not relate to a specific chapter in the British National Formulary
How to make the most of feedback
August 2012
Although we now seem to live in a feedback culture, with so many organisations asking for views, giving feedback is not always easy. This article looks at how to do it
How to be a great preregistration tutor
August 2011
A tutor is usually described as someone who instructs, teaches and cares for another in a branch of learning. What does it take to be a great tutor?
How to help if a patient can't swallow
March 2011
Most pharmacists will have come across patients who either do not like to or cannot swallow tablets. They will also have encountered parents who have trouble getting their child to take his or her medicine. Swallowing difficulties is an area in which pharmacists’ unique training provides the tools required to optimise care
How to ensure effective mentoring
February 2011Mentoring can be a useful tool for those interested in career progression or simply anyone wanting support. Stephen Goundrey-Smith explains how pharmacists might benefit from mentoring and gives his recommendations for ensuring mentees and mentors get the most out of a mentoring relationship
Biopharmaceuticals: what pharmacists need to know
May 2010A few biopharmaceuticals — medicines such as epoetin alfa and somatostatin — have been around for a while. But as technology progresses, numbers will increase. Similarly, as patents expire, biosimilars are set to become more widely available. Roger Tredree explains the special features of these medicines and the role pharmacists can play
Herbal medicine interactions
May 2010Herbal medicines, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals are ever popular, despite cases of serious adverse effects in the media, and pharmacists are often asked questions such as “Can I take ginseng with my blood pressure pills?”. Sam Driver, C. Rhoda Lee and Karen Baxter give advice on dealing with questions about possible interactions
Health literacy is not just reading and writing
September 2009It is suggested that one in 10 patients who walk into a pharmacy or on to a ward will not fully understand the instructions or advice that they receive from staff. Nicola Gray and Diarmuid Coughlan explain concepts in health literacy and how pharmacy staff can help ensure good medicines use
Using capacity planning to improve services
August 2009With decreases in healthcare spending predicted, some pundits are putting emphasis on “working smarter”. Alan Hall describes capacity planning as a management tool that relates workload, facilities, equipment and staff and explains how it can be used in pharmacy
Needle and syringe programmes: the basics
May 2009Graham Parsons examines the new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on needle and syringe programmes and looks at key points that pharmacists need to be aware of when offering these services
Refrigerated medicinal products: what pharmacists need to know
October 2008Patients and other healthcare professionals are entitled to expect that medicines sold or supplied from a pharmacy are fit for their intended purpose. In this article, Steve Todd looks at safeguarding the cold chain
Why adherence is a sensitive issue
August 2008Nicola Gray and Gianpiero Celino look at how pharmacists can help patients struggling with adherence to their medication
Engaging with your GP surgery
August 2008As the range of patient services delivered through pharmacies widens, pharmacists are increasingly having to work with their primary care colleagues, most notably GPs and their staff. Meera Sharma gives advice on how to foster closer working
First aid: getting people equipped
June 2008Pharmacies are a natural authority for information on first aid and logical suppliers of first aid requisites and kits, be it for homes, small commercial premises, such as shops, offices and cafés, or travel
Understanding what motivates staff
May 2008As pharmacy evolves, many might be wondering if motivation and the profession are still compatible. Keeping staff happy includes keeping them motivated and this results in several benefits, says Chijioke Agomo
Developing the right marketing mix to promote pharmacy services
March 2008The introduction of a new community pharmacy contract in April 2005 in England and Wales led to increased focus on the development, design and delivery of pharmacy services. Some pharmacists report difficulties in getting patients and healthcare professionals to buy in. Nathan Nzekwue looks at how to market these services successfully
How to harness all your resources
November 2007The airline industry has been described as the safest industry in the world. It was one of the first to adopt a system of error reporting, which was later taken up by pharmacy. Chris Seal describes another aviation practice that may be useful to pharmacists
Code of Ethics
September - November 2007In July 2007, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society published a single code of ethics for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. In three articles, Joy Wingfield explores the new professionalism implicit in the new code, the concept of autonomy, new requirements concerning consent and the capacity to consent, issues around confidentiality and privacy and how they affect professional boundaries
- New emphasis in the Code of Ethics
- Consent: the heart of patient respect
- When confidences should be kept and what constitutes an exception
How to make a success of MURs
March 2007Lin-Nam Wang, The Journal’s senior contributions editor and community pharmacist, recently attended an event organised by Barnet Primary Care Trust and run by UniChem, where community pharmacists shared their experiences and tips for improving medicines use review services
The informed patient: friend or foe?
February 2007Like the use of the internet, the informed patient is a growing phenomenon. Marjorie Weiss looks at how pharmacists can deal with them
Genetics
August 2006Advances in genetics are driving a revolution in health care, promising greater understanding of disease, superior tools for prevention and diagnosis, and novel treatments. It is likely that pharmacogenetics will be one of the earliest applications of genetic science in the post-genomic era
Stem cells in regenerative medicine
December 2005Stem cell research has, justifiably, gained a high profile in the past decade. This has been fuelled not only by the fantastic therapeutic (and financial) potential but also by the emotive ethical and political implications
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
December 2005The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies to a range of areas, including the provision of services, standards of premises and employment rights. This article provides guidance on how to meet what is required under the DDA in relation to the supply of medicines
Property rights
October 2004Two articles in intellectual property rights and their application to pharmacy and pharmaceuticals
How pharmacy can help public health
May 2004Public health is the study and practice of how best to improve the overall health and health gain of populations rather than individuals. This article explains why the time is right for community pharmacists to be recognised for the parts they play in improving public health and how to go about developing this important service
Evaluating prescribing
January 2004
Four articles on measuring and evaluating prescribingusing NHS data. THis series focuses on prescribing analysis and cost (PACT) data in England, but similary reporting systems are in use in Scotland and Wales
- Why prescribing data are monitored
- Ways for prescribing to be measured
- Codes and systems for reporting and sharing prescribing information
- Examples of how to use PACT reports
Pharmacoeconomics
November 2003Economics is increasingly being used to make health policy decisions and pharmacists need to understand the basic concepts involved. These articles explains some of the concepts and terms that pharmacists may come across, provide an overview of how to assess the quality of an economic evaluation and discuss how economic evaluations are used to influence the provision health care
Concordance — special issue
October 2003Thirteen articles from a special issue of The Pharmaceutical Journal devoted to concordance
- What is concordance?
- How concordance and patient empowerment challenge pharmacy
- Patient information needs patients
- Concordance — is it a synonym for compliance or a paradigm shift
- Compliance, concordance and respect for the patient's agenda
- Health literacy: implications for concordance and compliance
- Why do older people not always take their medicines?
- How reflections on concordance in mental health can affect research and clinical practice in adherence
- Can Britain and the United States learn anything from each other
- How to achieve concordance through ethnic sensitivity and lateral thinking: a case study
- How pharmacists can encourage adherence to long-term treatments for chronic conditions
- Ask me! I'm a pharmacist
- Meeting report: new ways of involving patients
Analysing aseptic preparation
September 2003Preparing aseptic products in a hospital pharmacy, rather than in a clinical area, is generally considered to reduce the risk of patients receiving pharmaceutical products that have been contaminated during preparation or reconstitution. Establishing the workload and capacity of aseptic preparation units, as well as assessing the degree to which aseptic units collaborate in producing aseptic products, gives important information on the extent to which best use is made of available facilities
The NHS pharmacy contract in England
September 2003
A community pharmacist providing NHS services never receives a legal contract. The services (provision of drugs and appliances and additional services such as displaying health promotion leaflets and keeping patient medication records) are, instead, provided in accordance with NHS Pharmaceutical Regulation , and are, therefore, an administrative arrangement
Developing community pharmacy services
August/September 2003A series on community pharmacy service development. There are significant opportunities for developing community pharmacy services in the new NHS but, in order to be successful, bids must be carefully prepared in order to persuade your PCT to invest in a service
- How to establish a new community pharmacy service
- The evidence base for community pharmacy service development
- National Health Service funding for community pharmacy service development in England
The new National Health Service
July/August 2003The National Health Service has undergone much remodelling since Labour's election to Givernment in 1997. Three articles review the new structures in England, Scotland and Wales and what they mean for pharmacy
- (1) Understanding the NHS in England
- (2) Understanding the NHS in Scotland
- (3) Understanding the NHS in Wales
National Service Framework for older people
June/July 2003A five part series series looking at the pharmacy aspects of the National Service Framework for Older People
- (1) What does the NSF for older people mean for pharmacy practice?
- (2) The older patient
- (3) Effective interventions to support medicines in older people
- (4) Stroke
- (5) Falls prevention and management
How pharmacists can support carers
May 2003This article describes the range of medication-related activities that are undertaken by carers together with some examples of the types of problems that they experience. This background may assist pharmacists in developing services to support carers in their medicines management roles and thus contribute to Government policy as outlined in its strategy for carers
Bespoke pharmacy: Tailoring medicines to the needs of patients
April 2003Three articles consider the role of clinical pharmacists, production units and therapeutic drug monitoring in personalising treatment to meet individual needs
- (1) The clinical pharmacist's role
- (2) The pharmacy production unit's role
- (3) The role of therapeutic drug monitoring
Using medicines wisely
It has long been established that pharmacists have a central role in promoting rational and cost-effective prescribing. Pharmacists specialising in MI undertake a range of activities and the form these take is often dependent on the staff and resources available
June 2002- (1) The place of the formulary in medicines management
- (2) The medicines information pharmacist's role
Evidence-based medicine
June 2002Evidence-based medicine is about using good evidence to make sound clinical decisions. Valid evidence of clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness is what will influence purchasers of healthcare, leading to two fundamental questions: What is the best evidence and how do I know if a piece of research is good enough to be relied on?
Communication
February 2002Two articles that give pharmacists an overview of communication skills, barriers that can get in the way of good communication and how to improve communication skills and professional practice
Successful truss fitting
January 2002Advances in surgery to repair hernias have reduced the demand for trusses. However, trusses are still needed by a number of people and it is part of a pharmacist’s role to provide a truss fitting service
Information technology
June 2001There has been a rapid growth in technological developments in most spheres of daily life. The impact of these developments on the delivery of information has gradually led to the development of de facto standards for structure and presentation
- (1) The evolving technologies for delivering medicines information
- (2) Taking pharmacy services to a new level with the intranet
- (3) Integrating IT for technical services
Workplace skills
Articles by various authors covering a wide range of useful workplace skills.
- Time management (February 2001)
- Find out about learning styles to learn and teach effectively (October 2001)
- Personal development planning (October 2001)
- Making the move from continuing education to continuing professional development (January 2002)
- How to manage stress at work (March 2002)
- How to master interview skills (April 2002)
- How to manage meetings effectively (June 2002)
- Presentation skills (July 2002)
- Staff development (July 2002)
- Leadership (August 2002)
- Decision making (November 2002)
- How to build a successful team (December 2002)
- How to present a poster (May 2003)
- Turn a dull lecture into an unforgettable learning experience (May 2003)
- Virtual learning environments (June 2003)
- Effective assessment methods (July 2003)
- How to deal with abuse at work (October 2003)
- Ways to help change behaviour (December 2003)
- How to manage projects effectively (Feb 2004)
- Make your grant proposal successful (April 2004)
- Negotiation: an important workplace skill (July 2004)
- Use network theory to develop services (August 2004)
- How to build a professional network (August 2004)
- Which management style to use (September 2005)
- Workplace cultures and pharmacy (April 2006)
