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1 week ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
Amandeep Doll has been appointed as the director for England at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS). Doll has worked at the RPS for eight years and currently holds the position of head of engagement and professional belonging, leading on the implementation of the Society’s Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) strategy, which launched in 2020. She is also a specialist medical pharmacist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
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2 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended a targeted therapy for blood cancer that offers “significant survival benefits” for some patients on the NHS in England. In draft guidance, published on 13 June 2025, NICE approved belantamab mafodotin (Blenrep; GSK), in combination with bortezomib (Velcade; Janssen-Cilag) and dexamethasone, as a second-line treatment for patients with multiple myeloma.
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2 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
Chronic heart failure deaths in England could be cut by around 3,000 per year following the introduction of updated guidance on treatment for the condition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has said. In a statement published on 10 June 2025 alongside draft updated guidance, NICE also said that the recommendations in ‘Chronic heart failure in adults: diagnosis and management‘ could prevent around 5,000 hospital admissions annually.
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2 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
Guidance on decentralised, or point-of care (POC), medicines manufacture has been published by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in what the body said is a world first.
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3 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
A “flu walk-in finder”, which allows patients to find out when they can visit a community pharmacy that offers flu vaccinations without an appointment, will be launched from October 2025, according to NHS England. In its ‘Urgent and emergency care plan 2025/2026‘, published on 6 June 2025, NHS England said the decision to launch the service had been developed in response to public feedback.
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3 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
The eye disorder non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is a “very rare side effect” of the use of semaglutide medicines, a review conducted by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has concluded. In a statement published on 6 June 2025, the PRAC said it had reviewed “all available data on NAION with semaglutide”, including non-clinical studies, clinical trials, post-marketing surveillance and medical literature.
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4 weeks ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
Submissions to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) credentialing scheme rose by 190% in 2024 compared with 2023, according to the Society’s latest annual credentialing report. The report, published on 30 May 2025, revealed that there were 226 submissions across the post-registration foundation advanced core and consultant-level credentialing schemes in 2024 — an increase from 78 submissions in 2023.
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1 month ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
More than 40 Superdrug pharmacy branches have achieved bronze status under the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) Greener Pharmacy Toolkit, since the toolkit launched in April 2025, according to data analysed by The Pharmaceutical Journal. The NHS-commissioned toolkit, which is available across Great Britain and is free to use, was developed by the RPS to help pharmacies become more environmentally sustainable.
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1 month ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
A prescription tracking function has been added to the NHS App, in a move which should reduce the need to call or visit pharmacies to check if a prescription is ready, NHS England has said. In a statement, published on 23 May 2025, NHS England said that more than 1,500 pharmacies — including each branch of Boots in England — are already set up to use the tracking feature, which enables patients to check their prescription status in real-time.
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1 month ago | 
pharmaceutical-journal.com | Corrinne Burns
NHS pharmacists in England and Wales employed on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts will receive 3.6% pay rises, with pharmacists in Scotland agreeing to a 4.25% rise, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said. In an announcement, published on 22 May 2025, the DHSC said that all AfC staff would receive the 3.6% pay increase from August 2025, which will be backdated to April 2025.
