Services

A London integrated care board (ICB) is “working to understand” a national dip in Pharmacy First referrals from GPs in the summer, C+D has learned.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has called on the government to commission pharmacies to deliver “all vaccines” amid claims there is “very little appetite currently” to give them a greater role in vaccine delivery.

Alcohol harm charity Drinkaware has announced the rollout of a free “drinking check” in all of Morrisons’ 117 pharmacies across the UK to assess the “drinking habits” of customers.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has set out five “tests” for a funding deal and warned that it will “not hesitate” to recommend collective action if these are not met.

CPE has said that while it is “positive” that the government has “partially” accepted the majority of recommendations in the health and social care committee’s (HSCC) pharmacy report, there are still “some significant disappointments”.

Northern Ireland has become the only country in the UK to extend its NHS flu vaccination programme to the 50-64 age group amid increasing pressure on hospitals.

New caps on the maximum number of paid Pharmacy First consultations have begun this month, rising between 55% and 94% across different types of pharmacies.

MPs have called for “financial incentives” to be introduced to encourage GPs to "work with pharmacies” and engage with the Pharmacy First service, amid new plans for Pharmacy First ear, nose and throat (ENT) services.

Morrisons has partnered with digital pharmacy Phlo to launch the “Morrisons Clinic”, an “online private prescription service” that delivers customers’ medicine in as little as 24 hours.

CPE data shows 96% of pharmacy owners are “concerned” or “very concerned” that “their business may not survive this winter” as Sadik Al-Hassan MP is “eager to see this government avoid mistakes made during the past 14 years that have brought our sector to a crisis point”.