The English community pharmacy funding settlement for the next five years has been announced, the first time that we have agreed a multi-year settlement. The agreement aims to build on the clinical skills of community pharmacists and their teams which must be seen as a positive step. The Headlines Funding: The contract sum will remain unchanged at £2.592 billion until the end of 2023/24, £1.792bn for fees and £800m in retained margin. The Single Activity Fee (SAF) will be £1.27 from August … [Read more...] about New Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-2024
Pharmacy
Building a better skin care business
Deborah Evans has recently written an article in Pharmacy Business magazine on building a better skin care business by helping people understand and manage their skin health. The article can be read here. … [Read more...] about Building a better skin care business
Managing dry skin patients in pharmacy
In her latest blog for Bio-Oil, Deborah Evans explains what is behind the dry skin that so many people experience and offers her advice for pharmacy staff on how best to support patients. Read Deborah's blog here to better understand: The causes of dry skin How to identify dry skin How to treat dry skin How to support patients Practical tips to help care for dry skin … [Read more...] about Managing dry skin patients in pharmacy
Digital Healthcare
I recently listened to a presentation on the NHS's plans for Digital Healthcare. They are huge, comprehensive and integrated around a new NHS App. They will eventually touch everyone who is either a provider or user of healthcare services. Worryingly, when I asked the speaker about community pharmacy's place in that integrated system, she went blank then said "...not sure community pharmacy is my thing." Community pharmacy and digital healthcare is very much the focus of this year's Pharmacy … [Read more...] about Digital Healthcare
Saving lives
A patient came into the pharmacy to thank me. Nothing unusual in that although infrequent, our customers are generally very grateful for the support we give them across a range of issues - their medicines, general health and wellbeing. On this occasion though, the thank you will be remembered for the rest of my career. The gentleman came in specifically to thank me for saving his father's life. I remembered him clearly - he had come in on a Saturday morning wanting to speak to the … [Read more...] about Saving lives