Ellie Philpotts

London

Health Journalist at Freelance

Writer and Content Editor at RCN Bulletin

Writer & Content Editor @theRCN half the week, freelance journo the other half, @Doctors_net_uk and others (usually health)✍️ Story? I'd love to hear from you!

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Articles

C. difficile cases increase by one-third over three years, government data show

2 weeks ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) in England have increased by one-third over three years, according to data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). In a research and analysis paper, published on 1 May 2025, the UKHSA revealed that CDI cases increased by 33% between the 2020/2021 and 2023/2024 financial years.
Chief pharmacists call for medicines leadership to be 'fundamental component' of strategic commissioning system

2 weeks ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

Integrated care board (ICB) chief pharmacists across England have written to NHS England, calling for medicines leadership to be a “fundamental component” of an overhauled ICB system. In a joint letter sent on 15 April 2025, four ICB chief pharmacists urged senior NHS England executives to work with pharmacists as strategic commissioning of NHS services in England is developed.
Government ends programme to tackle drug deaths and drug-related offending

3 weeks ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

A Home Office-led programme designed to reduce drugs deaths and drug-related offending has been closed after less than five years in operation. In a guidance document, updated on 7 April 2025, the government said that Project ‘ADDER’ (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) ended on 31 March 2025.
Regulators issue warning over prescription-only weight-loss drug advertisements

1 month ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Medicines regulation |Ellie Philpotts

Medical and pharmacy regulators have published an enforcement notice warning that advertisements for named prescription-only medicines (POMs) for weight-management are prohibited. The notice was published jointly by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on 11 April 2025.
Patients involved in design of fewer than one-fifth of published trials, research shows

1 month ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

Research has revealed that patients were involved in the planning stages of just 18% of published clinical trials across several disease areas. The study, published in The BMJ on 10 April 2025, analysed the patient and public involvement — in how research is designed, conducted and disseminated — of 360 published articles reporting on randomised controlled trials and 299 respective protocols.
NICE approves first NHS treatment for advanced blood cancer

1 month ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris; Takeda), in combination with other chemotherapy drugs, as the first NHS treatment for untreated late-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Young cancer survivors on the impact of cancer fakers

1 month ago | inspirethemind.org | Ellie Philpotts

A hard pill to swallowUpon being confirmed to have cancer, you realise that so much of it is physical. Which is a hard pill to swallow, because you’d battled so much of it in private before reaching the point of diagnosis. Maybe you’d batted off your symptoms, blaming them on your young age or other easily explainable factors, be it a winter virus or the menopause. Maybe you’d battled to be taken seriously by doctors, who wouldn’t scan you until you’d come back time and time again.
Multiple doses of naloxone needed to reverse drug overdoses, pharmacists warned

1 month ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

The Scottish Drug Forum has warned pharmacists that multiple doses of naloxone may be needed to reverse drug overdoses, following the discovery of synthetic opioids in various street drugs in Scotland. In an ‘Overdose alert‘ issued on 13 March 2025, the Scottish Drug Forum warned that drug-related harm, including near-fatal overdoses, has increased throughout the country, with nitazenes being been found in several street drugs, including heroin.
Greener inhalers could make up to 10% of NHS net zero emissions cuts, report concludes

2 months ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

The provision of greener pressurised metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) for respiratory conditions, such as asthma, could save 619,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in the UK each year, according to a report by the Office of Health Economics (OHE).
GP practices must ensure IT systems allow pharmacy staff to record consultations, new contract says

2 months ago | pharmaceutical-journal.com | Ellie Philpotts

Under the revised GP contract for England, GP practices will be required to ensure that community pharmacies can send patient consultation summaries into practice workflows from 1 October 2025, NHS England has announced. In a document — entitled ‘Changes to the GP contract for 2025/26‘, published on 28 February 2025 — NHS England has said that practices must make sure the functionality in their GP Connect systems is operating so that pharmacy consultations can be recorded.