RPS makes new recommendations for pharmacist independent prescribers
28th April 2021
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPS) has made new recommendations to increase the use of pharmacist independent prescribers (PIP) in the UK.
In a statement, RPS highlighted that the role of PIPs has become ‘increasingly’ important in delivering high-quality clinical care.
The Society added that it wants to see increased use of PIPs in multi-disciplinary teams to expand patient access to care, as well as create capacity in the healthcare system and improve health outcomes.
The three core recommendations call on governments and healthcare organisations to proactively:
establish the right infrastructure, systems and tools to enable patients to benefit from PIPs
NHS prescription charges set to rise in England
2nd March 2021
The NHS prescription charge in England is set to increase to £9.35 from 1 April 2021 for single prescription items, with price increases also announced for prescription prepayment certificates.
The price of single prescription items will increase from the current £9.15 to £9.35, while three-month prescription prepayment certificates are also set to increase from £29.65 to £30.25.
In addition, 12-month prescription prepayment certificates will rise from £105.90 to £108.
The amendments to the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations were laid before Parliament last week.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman commented: “Nearly 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in community pharmacies in England and existing exemptions are in place covering children, pregnant women, and those over 60, on a low income or with medical conditions like cancer, epileps
RPS pays tribute to pharmacy law and ethics pioneer Joy Wingfield pharmaceutical-journal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pharmaceutical-journal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (“
EUIPO”) and Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (“
OECD”) recently published a Report
1 on counterfeit pharmaceuticals based on global customs seizure data from 2014 to 2016. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are traded medicinal products that infringe trade marks and include fake antibiotics, lifestyle treatments and pain killers. The Report outlines the significant implications of this ever-growing illegal industry on governments, companies and citizens and provides policy makers with evidence of the threat that this illicit activity poses to the value of pharmaceutical companies’ intellectual property rights (“IPR”) and to the health of its citizens. The hope is that officials across the globe will use the empirical evidence within the Report to formulate a new and improved strategy to combat this hazardous trade.
A PHARMACIST, says an “army” of pharmacies are ready to help in the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine. Pharmacist Umesh Patel, who is also a mentor to Pharmacy students at the University of Sunderland, is backing calls for community pharmacists to play a bigger part in delivering the Oxford-AstraZenica jab. Mr Patel said: Community pharmacies are an integral part of NHS and can help deliver the AstraZenica Covid vaccines at very short notice. We are an army of 11,000 pharmacies and we can mobilise quite a few across the country within 24 hours’ notice to provide a Covid vaccination service. Customers do not need appointment to visit their local pharmacy.”