funding

Health warning: safety margin has been cut

A dispensing error has made the news. An unconscious baby was rushed to hospital after being given an anti-psychotic drug, olanazapine, instead of omeprazole. It was a case of the right label, wrong drug.

The impact of such incidents on the patient and their family is uppermost in our minds when things go wrong because we share the pain, feel the anger, experience the hurt and reflect on the sorrow made worse by the fact that we’re to blame. Saying sorry is never enough, and there are no words to embroider around that fact.

Funding cuts – are you prepared?

A new page on the NPA website provides advice about how to survive the funding cuts

Funding cuts – are you prepared?

A new page on the NPA website provides advice about how to survive the funding cuts

Sharpe warns of testing year ahead

Sue Sharpe posts a New Year message to the profession

Sharpe warns of testing year ahead

Sue Sharpe posts a New Year message to the profession

Hats off to Wales

For some, there’s better news “We’re recognising that it’s about quality, regarding community pharmacy remuneration. The health minister for Wales, Vaughan Gething, announced that, unlike in England, funding for community pharmacy wil lnot be cut. Hurrah!

Instead, pharmacists in Wales will be rewarded for improving medicines safety and for providing clinical services. That’s not to say the pharmacy contract in Wales won’t change; it almost certainly will, but clinical services will take priority over dispensing. MrGething said: "We're recognising that it's about quality, not just quantity.”

Funding announcements and other news

News from your NPA

NPA chairman reacts to announcement on cuts

Ian Strachan calls funding cuts a "slap in the face"

The way forward

Claire Ward considers what contractors might do next after funding cuts

What now?

Funding cuts go ahead against best advice

Presented with a fait accompli

It was gratifying to see the media coverage of the government’s cost-cutting measures for community pharmacy this past week or so. No matter that the spokeswoman from Pharmacy Voice on Radio 4’s Today programme seemed a bit nervous, the message was clear: community pharmacy is facing big cuts and pharmacies will close.

Establishment payments will reduce from December, with a 12 per cent cut in the global sum from December to March, followed by a 7.4 per cent cut in 2017-18. The pharmacy minister, David Mowat, calls them ‘efficiency savings.’ They are weasel words.

Campaign to secure your future

Ian Strachan provides an update on the NPA campaign

No funding cuts for pharmacies in Wales

Welsh Government pledges continued support for community pharmacy

No funding cuts for pharmacies in Wales

Welsh Government pledges continued support for community pharmacy

All-Party Pharmacy Group to investigate funding cuts

All-Party Pharmacy Group to investigate government plans for funding cuts

All-Party Pharmacy Group to investigate funding cuts

All-Party Pharmacy Group to investigate government plans for funding cuts