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Pharmacy2U takeover of LloydsDirect approved after safety concerns

 
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The NHS has accepted Pharmacy2U’s application to take over the ownership of LloydsDirect, after previously refusing it earlier this year.

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PDA ballot could secure Superdrug union recognition ‘by spring’

 
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The PDA has confirmed that a “formal ballot” will take place to secure union recognition at Superdrug – with the vote forecasted to be concluded “by the spring” – after the chain said it is “not willing to recognise the PDA voluntarily”.

Pharmacy workers lose right to tattoo without licence in Wales

 
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Pharmacy technicians, students and pharmacists are among those who are no longer free to practise tattooing or body piercing without a licence, while exemptions around take-home naloxone have expanded.


‘Gross incompetence’: High Court orders GPhC to reconsider FtP case

 
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The High Court of Justice has called out the “gross incompetence and unfairness” of the GPhC’s handling of a pharmacist’s alleged role in “fraudulent” medication sales overseas, ordering the regulator to “undertake the whole process again”.

Lloydspharmacy: 80 ex-Sainsbury’s pharmacists head to employment tribunal

 
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The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is preparing to support some 80 former Sainsbury’s pharmacists who only received statutory redundancy payments after Lloydspharmacy made them redundant in a four-day employment tribunal.

GPs and pharmacies must work in ‘joined-up way’, says BMA

 
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The BMA has urged GPs and community pharmacies to “work in a joined-up way” after GP leaders last week voted “overwhelmingly” for pharmacy blood pressure checks to be terminated immediately.


High street pharmacies ‘extinct’ by 2039 at current closure rate

 
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New analysis of pharmacy closure data has found that pharmacies “will cease trading” within 15 years if nothing is done to stop closures.

Coroner: Patient overdoses after ‘excess’ bank holiday diazepam and codeine scripts

 
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A 78-year-old woman has overdosed after being given excess diazepam and codeine she was “addicted to” ahead of an Easter bank holiday weekend, a coroner has found.

'Real-life drama': Pharmacy treats acute asthma attack during TV interview

 
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STV production staff have caught a glimpse of real-life pharmacy “critical scenarios” during an interview with Community Pharmacy Scotland’s (CPS) chief executive.


NPA, IPA, CCA and CPE join forces to warn of ‘perilous’ budget

 
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The four pharmacy bodies have together urged the government to “shield community pharmacies from…increased costs and measures” introduced in the October budget.

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Day Lewis launches pharmacist manager ‘co-ownership’ scheme

 
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Day Lewis has announced the launch of a “joint venture scheme” allowing pharmacist managers to become co-owners of their pharmacy.

Third of public think NHS ‘should not’ offer weight loss jabs

 
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A third of people believe that the NHS “should not” offer weight loss injections “to people who are obese”, an Ipsos survey has revealed.


Pharmacy contract limbo: Have negotiations finally resumed?

 
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The pharmacy sector has been left in limbo since its five-year funding deal came to end in April, but after delay upon delay to negotiations, are we any closer to a new deal?

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‘High volumes’: Fifth pharmacy suspended from Pharmacy First

 
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Another pharmacy has been suspended from the Pharmacy First service, with its integrated care board (ICB) citing “high volumes” and “the types of conditions referred” as reasons, C+D has learned.

Boots warns Chancellor budget will cause ‘inevitable’ job losses

 
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Boots has signed a letter to the Chancellor stating that the “sheer scale of new costs” introduced by the budget – including a rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs) and the national living wage – will “make job losses inevitable”.


‘Immediate need’: Council mulls temporary pharmacy in shipping container

 
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A proposal for a temporary pharmacy in a shipping container has been submitted to address an “immediate need” while a “permanent location” is under development.

Change legislation so pharmacists can amend prescriptions, says RPS

 
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The RPS has called on the government to change legislation to allow community pharmacists to amend prescriptions when medicines are in short supply, a new report published today (November 26) has said.

LloydsDirect pharmacist suspended for attempting to smuggle tramadol from warehouse

 
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A pharmacist has been suspended for six months by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) for attempting to remove a “strip of Tramadol” from a LloydsDirect Pharmacy warehouse.


CAT upholds £62m Pfizer fine for gouging NHSE with ‘unfair’ epilepsy pill prices

 
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An appeal tribunal has upheld almost £70m in fines for two companies’ “illegal behaviour” that upped NHS spending on phenytoin sodium capsules by £48m in a year.

NHSE 'really very tight’ on pharmacy, Hancock reveals

 
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The previous health secretary revealed NHSE’s “lack of enthusiasm” in supporting community pharmacy is “inbuilt” and it is “by tradition, really very tight on pharmacists” during his evidence at the latest Covid-19 Inquiry hearing.