A pharmacist employed by the NPA had engaged in an act of sexual impropriety and then failed to disclose his police caution

Pharmacy2U has failed in a legal bid to obtain the contact details of every NPA member following a ruling in the High Court

Market Pharmacy in Bolton is the first UK community pharmacy to become fully compliant, the NPA claims

Ask Your Pharmacist Week has kicked off, with pharmacies around the country providing information on medicines safety

With 100 days to go before the February 9 deadline for the Falsified Medicines Directive, community pharmacies should not delay in ensuring they are FMD-ready, the National Pharmacy Association has said

NPA head of communications Stephen Fishwick takes a look at this year’s Ask Your Pharmacist campaign

The Public Accounts Committee has voiced concerns that the Department of Health and Social Care has no “clear plan” for using new powers to obtain information on the generic medicines market

The legal action against the cuts damaged the relationship with senior civil servants and relations need to be rebuilt, says new NPA boss

Investing in screening, diagnostic and monitoring services in pharmacy will drive better outcomes in cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions and cancer, the NPA is saying

By Stephen Fishwick, head of communications, National Pharmacy Association The scope of the new NHS 10-year plan will be wide-ranging, addressing priorities from ‘putting the patient at the heart of how we organise care’ to harnessing the power of innovation and empowering the healthcare workforce. There will also be a focus on prevention and achieving ‘true parity’ of care between mental and physical health. Pharmacy has lots to offer in all these areas. That is why one of the acid tests of the long-term plan should be this: Come the NHS’s 80th birthday, 10 years from now, will the potential of the entire health and social care workforce have been realised – not only doctors and nurses but local pharmacists and many others too?

By NPA policy manager Helga Mangion NOWADAYS it is easier than ever to access and share information and this raises expectations in terms of transparency and customer service. The performance of schools, the cleanliness of restaurants and MPs’ expenses are all available at the click of a mouse. NHS Choices encourages patients to review their pharmacy, GP, dentist and other health providers online but, unlike these other providers, the pharmacy regulator does not currently publish its reports. The GPhC consultation, ‘Developing our approach to regulating registered pharmacies’, reflects some of these issues. The NPA agrees with the principle of the publication of reports, provided they are not misleading to the public. Reports should contain only data that informs consumer decision-making, uncluttered by technical details that are useless for that purpose.

Funding cuts not unlawful, the Court of Appeal rules in a decision announced today (August 23). Initial reaction here

The Court of Appeal’s full determination has yet to be made public, but seven words from Lord Justice Stephen Irwin were sufficient to quash a last-ditch attempt to overturn the cuts

The ASA says Pharmacy2U’s claim that it could save the NHS £300 million a year is not based on a currently realistic scenario

A Sheffield scheme that saw community pharmacy-based support measures free up GP appointments should be used to inform national policy, the NPA has said

Reducing the life expectancy gap between the UK’s richest and poorest will be a crucial test of whether a planned £20 billion NHS cash injection is succesful, experts said

Higher wholesaler margins and a fall in the value of sterling are among the factors cited as potentially contributing to the dramatic price hikes seen last year

PSNC and NPA are in the Court of Appeal today (May 22) over their Judicial Review cases concerning the funding cuts

By Stephen Fishwick, NPA head of communications. Eight in 10 people believe NHS access has been eroded in the past decade, but our new report, See You Sooner, suggests community pharmacy can help reverse this trend. The report argues that one cost-effective way to release more capacity into the system would be to develop community pharmacies as neighbourhood health and wellbeing centres – offering support that encompasses prevention, treatment for common ailments, health surveillance and the routine medicines management of long-term conditions, in collaboration with patients’ GP practices. This would have a positive, unblocking effect elsewhere in the health and social care system, with each provider and professional group playing to their strengths.

The PSNC is now advising that all community pharmacies regardless of size should appoint a DPO after signs the UK Data Protection Act will require this