The recipients of the 2017 Scottish Pharmacy Awards were announced last week during a glamorous gala hosted by renowned television and radio presenter, Shereen Nanjiani. The annual ceremony honours the pharmaceutical sector’s emerging talent, as well as the steadfast service delivered by the healthcare workers year after year. Over 330 leading industry figures flocked to [...]
Scientists working to develop a ‘game-changing’ new antibiotic have made a significant advance towards creating commercially viable drug treatments by producing two simplified synthetic versions of the substance which are just as potent at killing superbugs, like MRSA as its natural form. The breakthrough by researchers at the University of Lincoln marks another important step [...]
For older adults, dry mouth can be a common side effect of prescribed medications. Having dry mouth means you don't have enough saliva, or spit, to keep your mouth wet. The condition can lead to problems chewing, eating, swallowing, and even talking. What’s more, dry mouth puts you at higher risk for tooth decay and [...]
The transformative electronic prescription service (EPS) has managed to save the NHS £130 million over three years. By allowing GP surgeries to send prescriptions directly to pharmacies, the EPS system, which has been developed by NHS Digital, has helped to save patients time and money when collecting their medications. An audit of patients using the [...]
A number of advanced community pharmacy services are offered in more than 50 per cent of countries and territories, which cover over three-quarters of the world’s population, according to a new publication launched by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) at the World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The document, ‘Pharmacy at a glance: 2015–-2017’, [...]
NICE is urging healthcare professionals to manage most common ear infections with pain relief, rather than antibiotics. The draft guidance advises GPs and healthcare professionals how they should treat acute otitis media – a middle ear infection that’s common in children and young people. Estimates suggest one-in-four children experience a middle ear infection before they are [...]
Ibuprofen is associated with increased blood pressure and hypertension compared to celecoxib in patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to late-breaking results from the PRECISION-ABPM study presented recently in a Hot Line Session at ESC Congress1 and published in EHJ. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), both non-selective and selective [...]
Closthioamide, discovered in 2010, might eventually offer an alternative for current drugs that are becoming less effective against gonorrhoea. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that 700,000 people around the world die annually from drug-resistant infections. It also listed drug-resistant gonorrhoea, a sexually transmitted disease caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterium, as a high [...]
A scheme launched by the Department of Health in 2011 to help patients stick to their drug regimens has been so successful, that in its first five years, it will save NHS England £517.6 million in the long-term, a team of health economists has found. Lead researcher, Professor Rachel Elliott, from the University of Manchester, [...]
Antibiotic resistance is growing and is one of the great health threats of our time. As a result, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is launching a new collaborative campaign at its conference in September to help achieve the necessary reduction in inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics You can help the organisation build this future campaign by [...]
