News
Legislation to speed up clinical trials comes into force
5+ hour, 55+ min ago (286+ words) Legislation to speed up clinical trials has come into force across the UK, under what the government has described as "the largest'package of reforms'in over 20 years. On 27 April 2026, the government said that the new combined approval process "takes an average…...
Improving resilience in pharmacy practice: optimising shift patterns
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (206+ words) After reading this article, you should be able to: This is part of an expanding series of articles on improving resilience in pharmacy practice. Read the other articles here: Given the competing pragmatic realities associated with workplace scheduling, how can…...
Creating "pharmacist personas" as a practical tool for navigating a system in flux
4+ day, 12+ hour ago (236+ words) Pharmacy in England is undergoing its most radical transformation in a generation. The establishment of the Royal College of Pharmacy, the move to newly qualified pharmacists as independent prescribers from 2026, and the policy drive towards a unified "one pharmacy workforce…...
Health news round-up: new cancer drugs, pharmacogenomics, and whether GLP-1s cause erectile dysfunction
4+ day, 6+ hour ago (309+ words) This week, The Pharmaceutical Journal has highlighted the role of pharmacists in providing almost 16, 000 respiratory syncytial virus vaccinations, reducing prescribing of potentially inappropriate medicines by up to 40% and frequently being the first port of call for allergy care. We have…...
Paxlovid speeds COVID-19 recovery but does not reduce hospital admissions
4+ day, 11+ hour ago (503+ words) Research into Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir; Pfizer) " an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 " has suggested that it helps high-risk patients recover faster but does not reduce the rate of hospital admissions in vaccinated patients. The finding was drawn from an…...
Proposed standards for responsible and superintendent pharmacists 'risk patient safety"
5+ day, 42+ min ago (821+ words) In a statement published on 20 April 2026, the PDA said that the proposed standards "could undermine patient safety by blurring statutory roles, weakening accountability and enabling unsafe models of practice unless they are significantly revised. The PDA also called for the…...
The long road to replacing animals in pharmaceutical research
5+ day, 8+ hour ago (1713+ words) In November 2025, the government published a long-awaited strategy to replace the use of animals in research1. This "roadmap" pointed to advances in technology " particularly AI and genomics but also organoid and 3 D cell systems " which could bring an end to the…...
Pharmacies deliver almost 16, 000 RSV vaccinations as programme found to cut newborn hospitalisations by up to 85%
1+ week, 31+ min ago (570+ words) Community pharmacies in the east of England have delivered almost 16, 000 respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccinations, The Pharmaceutical Journal has learned. Sarah Cavanagh, regional public health pharmacist at NHS England " East of England, told The Pharmaceutical Journal: "35 community pharmacies in Suffolk…...
Pharmacy regulator publishes AI position statement
1+ week, 5+ hour ago (585+ words) Pharmacy teams using AI tools should do so in line with the General Pharmaceutical Council's (GPh C's) "Standards for pharmacy professionals', the regulator has said. In a position statement published on 20 April 2026, the GPh C recognised that AI has the…...
Government is reviewing enforcement mechanisms on medicines shortages reporting
1+ week, 1+ day ago (423+ words) The government has said it is "progressing a range of measures to strengthen its understanding of supply chain pressures" to mitigate the impact of medicines shortages. In its response to a House of Lords Public Services Committee report on medicines…...