"A complete shambles"
Numark's Mimi Lau wasn't impressed by the government's Quit Kits smoking cessation scheme
The year kicked off with controversy when RCGP chair Clare Gerada claimed private pharmacy flu vaccinations had left at-risk patients in England unable to access the jab. And the fractious mood continued, with science campaigners branding as "downright shabby and irresponsible" the GPhC's decision not to take action against pharmacists who sell homeopathic remedies for serious diseases.
Then came the news the health world had been waiting for: the launch of the Health and Social Care Bill. Andrew Lansley's overhaul aimed to put quality at the heart of the health service – and it put pharmacy services in England under the care of an independent national commissioning board. Pharmacy needed to "get its act together" to work under the reforms, said Lloydspharmacy chief Andy Murdock.
This month's loser:
The RPS - Lloydspharmacy, Sainsbury's and Asda all announced they would not reimburse pharmacists' fees to join the new professional leadership body; the Co-operative Pharmacy agreed to pay half.
Optimism award:
Pharmaceutical Contractors Committee - Discussions were underway to decide a new contract in Northern Ireland "as soon as possible", the negotiator said. NI's pharmacists are still waiting, as a judicial review of funding cuts of 30 per cent is anticipated.
"No longer were staff scared to approach customers"
Rowlands' Mike Johnson highlighted the impact of the multiple's retail training programme
Gun crime, knife attacks and verbal abuse – C+D's crime investigation revealed that life is far from quiet in Britain's pharmacies.
One in 15 pharmacies in England could have been victims of serious crime in the past year, the results showed, rising to one in 13 in Northern Ireland.
On a lighter note, a pharmacy in Greater Manchester reported assault with a more unusual weapon – a snowball.
Bad month for
English patients' bank balances
The government faced heavy criticism as it voted to increase England's prescription charges by 20 pence, while charges were abolished altogether in Scotland.
Hemant Patel did not welcome NHS Future Forum rep Ash Soni's assertion that most LPCs are not fit for purpose
The Fight for Fairness campaign gathered pace, as a C+D freedom of information (FOI) investigation revealed that almost 3,000 contractors had challenged the pricing of more than 11,000 script batches in the past two years; NPA chief executive Mike Holden said the numbers reflected "long-standing lack of confidence" in the NHS payment system.
Also in June, the C+D Senate made headlines, as the industry think-tank clashed over a model for a new pharmacy contract for England.
Some Senators said the framework needed "more than a tweak", but others warned against the risks of radical change. And a C+D Senate survey revealed that less than a quarter of pharmacists felt they had the support to deliver the services they would like to.
Good month for:
The 14 winners of the C+D Awards 2011
The victorious community pharmacists, staff, pre-reg grads and teams were presented with their trophies at a black-tie ceremony in London's exclusive Hurlingham Club.
Most popular story of the month:
Court order restrains sale and distribution of generic atorvastatin
Gazing into their crystal balls, C+D Senators predicted that the NMS banded payment structure, which is now being reviewed as a matter of urgency, could lead to the service being "a lot of hard work for nothing".
And multiples didn't hold back their attacks on the 2011-12 funding agreement, with Lloydspharmacy calling tariff reductions "unacceptable" and pledging to take its concerns to the Department of Health.
Teflon coating of the month
Department of Health
The department showed off its ability to dodge questions when it declined to comment on how or why its error-riddled automated CIP payment system was approved for use before its introduction in 2007.
Bad month for
Nurofen Plus
The MHRA confirmed police were investigating after the medicine was recalled and distribution halted following the discovery of five packs containing prescription medicines.
"IT hasn't been a big obstacle – it's just another excuse"
PSNC's Alastair Buxton squared up to critics of the NMS
It was a rough month for PSNC, as the committee faced criticism about both England's NMS and the latest funding deal.
Story of the month
November saw stock shortages again reach the top of the news agenda, with many pharmacists calling for the introduction of legal obligations to ensure efficient supply of medicines.
A survey of 400 pharmacists employed by Lloydspharmacy revealed 80 per cent faced stock shortages on four or more prescriptions a week.
November also saw C+D report on cashflow problems faced by many pharmacists, in some instances driving pharmacies out of business. Umesh Modi, an accountant and partner at Silver Levene, issued a stark warning to the pharmacy sector: "Frankly, I am very concerned about the survival of many small pharmacies."
"One might say it is not worth the paper it is written on"
Numark's Gary Choo rued the lack of enforceability of supply chain guidance
Villain of the month:
Edwin Poots, Northern Ireland's health minister was told to "sit up and take notice" by industry experts, who accused him of abandoning pharmacy.
Most popular story of the month:
Boots remove homeopathic remedy advertising after MHRA upholds complaints
The government came under fire in February, as its new supply chain guidance was met with less than enthusiasm.
Industry leaders branded the new guidelines, which stated that pharmacies should receive medicines within 24 hours of ordering, as a "significant deterioration" in service.
And the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers warned the shortages were placing a "ridiculous burden" on pharmacists.
The GPhC
The regulator is set to be put under greater scrutiny under plans for health regulators that were presented to parliament this month.
"You'd be annoyed waiting that long for a new fridge"
Numark MD John D'Arcy was outraged patients were waiting an average of 4.4 days for out-of-stock medicines, as indicated
by a Devon LPC audit
"The ‘sit back and wait for them to speak to us' approach is commercial suicide"
AAH MD Mark James urged pharmacists to engage with GPs over NHS reforms
The second quarter of 2011 got going with C+D's investigation into pharmacy degrees, which revealed students at some schools receive 1,700 hours less teaching time than those at other institutions over a four-year course.
C+D also launched its Fight for Fairness campaign for improved accuracy and transparency in pharmacy payments, and not a moment too soon – the following week contractors and financial experts warned that errors had left businesses struggling to pay bills.
And then came the pause: the government pledged to answer "substantive concerns" about the NHS reforms. Uproar ensued when pharmacists were left off engagement panel the Future Forum – but it was super Soni to the rescue as contractor Ash was confirmed as the sole pharmacy representative later in the month.
This month's winner:
The RPS
Despite the January setback, the figures revealed over half of practising pharmacists had renewed their membership.
Shocking stat of the month: A 1/4 proportion of pharmacists and pharmacy staff who had witnessed a crime at work in the past year, as revealed by a C+D survey.
The moment England's contractors had been waiting for finally arrived as the community pharmacy cost of service inquiry (COSI) was published at the height of summer.
Unfortunately, the excitement was somewhat dampened by concerns that the inquiry had not fully captured the costs of independent contractors, despite it taking a year longer than planned.
July also saw yet more woes for NHS Prescription Services as C+D uncovered the causes of the errors plaguing pricing and PSNC branded the lack of transparency in the payment system "indefensible".
"How can an intelligent character recognition system have omissions? Surely this is a basic requirement of the system?"
Numark's Raj Nutan had little sympathy when it came to the causes of the pricing errors being made by NHS Prescription Services' automated system
Row of the month:
Pfizer patent disagreement
Community pharmacists were dragged into the atorvastatin battle between Teva and Pfizer, which saw Rowlands Pharmacy and Day Lewis named as defendants in the case. The case was later settled before it got to a full hearing.
Most worrying stat: A C+D investigation found 25 PCTs had cut or considered cutting pharmacy services in the six months to March 2011, with minor ailments schemes the worst hit.
Most popular story of the month: Exclusive: Letter reveals locum rate drops at Co-operative Pharmacy
"There's going to be blood on the pharmacy floor"
Day Lewis MD Kirit Patel has a stark warning for the sector, saying it can't escape the pressure on the NHS to make £20 billion savings
Policing premises standards, the sector's role in the new NHS and the usefulness of the COSI were all on the agenda at the C+D Keynote Conference at the Pharmacy Show this month.
A Dragons' Den-style debate saw industry leaders calling for a radically new approach to funding in England, while PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe promised she would not accept all of the COSI's findings in funding negotiations with the DH, because she believed the inquiry had under-captured independents' costs.
Meanwhile, MedicX Pharmacy chief executive Steve Jeffers warned that a "significant minority" of pharmacies were letting the side down on premises standards and called for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to take action "pretty damn quickly".
Big spender of the month:
NHS Berkshire West
A C+D investigation revealed that PCTs had spent more than £100,000 on staff events in the 2010-11 financial year, with NHS Berkshire West racking up a bill of £14,622 for an awards ceremony, executive away-days and a board Christmas dinner during the year.
Most popular story
Finally, some good news on the NMS as the year drew to a close, with a C+D FOI investigation revealing "encouraging" levels of service uptake.
But the news that 51 per cent of pharmacies in England had signed up to deliver the service just one month in masked wide regional variation – of up to 80 percentage points.
And the news didn't dampen complaints about the payment structure, which if anything grew in volume. Another year passed – and still no resolution on the thorny issue of decriminalising dispensing errors has materialised.
And a proposed amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill might not help, either, healthcare lawyer.
"A shortage of medicines can be the difference 
between life and death"
Stock shortages remain top of the news agenda, as Margot James MP explained why the APPG has launched a "major" inquiry into the issue
Heroes of the month:
Doncaster pharmacists 93 per cent had signed up to deliver the NMS within a month of launch, a C+D investigation revealed.
Most popular story
Pharmacist struck off for stealing 'unkown quantities' of medicines
What will you remember 2011 for?
@rob_a_mitchell: For doing lots of IG stuff at the state of the year and getting my head round specials at the end - and the advent of the NMS
@Babit1981: NMS, targeted MURs, specials, continued stock shortages and quotas, Pharmacy Show, changing jobs and blogging
Via Twitter:
Stories about pharmacists struck off for this or that emphatically topped the league table of most viewed articles on the C+D website this year – but the themes of the almost 600 stories you commented on were much more varied.
From control of entry to the new medicine service (NMS) to healthy living pharmacies, readers have been ardent supporters of pharmacy practice and the sector's role in the future of the NHS. In an upbeat comment on a story questioning pharmacy's role in public health, Graham Phillips posted: "But what about the Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative? Times they are a-changing."
But readers have also at times condemned the lack of leadership in pharmacy. In a blog in August, Terry Maguire said "we need vision, leadership and a paradigm shift" in reference to the poor organisation of Northern Ireland pharmacy in the face of a 30 per cent cut in funding.
Across the Irish Sea, England's 2011-12 funding settlement had pharmacists calling for heads to roll. As one commenter put it: "Any further cuts to [funding for] the supply of medicines would be an unimaginably short-sighted and a self-deprecating course for pharmacy funding. Hence the reason why I totally disagree with what Sue Sharpe and PSNC has already done to the pharmacy contract."
And while the launch of the NMS was welcomed by many, the funding structure was criticised from the off. As more complaints arose and pharmacists were left "out of pocket", PSNC came under fire once again. "This is what worries me the most about the PSNC negotiating team. If they couldn't see this coming when they were actually working out the particulars for this new service, then I seriously have a vote of no confidence in their ability to work a deal that protects pharmacy core funding over the longer term," one reader wrote.
Another overriding theme this year was medicines supply shortages, with one body blaming another. Contractors blamed suppliers, suppliers blamed pharmacists and the government denied there was a problem at all before coming out with some guidelines they claimed would fix the problem – but everyone else doubted would even scratch the surface.
PSNC placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of suppliers and lambasted the hoops pharmacists have to go through to get some medicines. Readers, meanwhile, suggested a name-and-shame campaign for suppliers withholding or exporting stock. "It could be a joint C+D/ Daily Mail/Patient Association website," one reader suggested.
C+D's hugely popular Ethical Dilemma series also generated heated debate – not least November's head-scratcher on homeopathy.
"Patient beliefs and patient choice are obviously important and should be respected, but to recommend overly expensive sugar pills at the expense of effective treatments is in my humble opinion unethical, in certain circumstances dangerous and also damaging to the professional reputation of pharmacists," said pharmacist Joseph Bush.
Join the debate on the big issues
chemistanddruggist.co.uk/ your-shout
As spring gave way to summer, C+D revealed the results of its Salary Survey 2011, which found that – despite pay rises getting scarcer and contractors having to pass belt-tightening onto employees – pharmacists' pay satisfaction was climbing.
And the finding that a third of pharmacists said workplace stress affected the service they provided patients prompted the Patients' Association to call on the government to reduce bureaucracy burdens on and better support pharmacists.
May also saw the first details of England's new medicine service (NMS) and targeted MURs, including launch date and target patient groups. Pharmacists were left waiting for payment details with bated breath, as well as raising concerns about the practicalities of roll-out by October 1.
"The generics business as we know it today will be gone in the next 10 years"
A surprising statement from Actavis CEO
Claudio Albrecht
Grafters of the month:
Superintendents
More than eight in 10 said they worked extra time every week without overtime pay. This compared to seven in 10 branch managers (source: C+D Salary Survey 2011).
The police were not as good as some at predicting riots, it seemed, when they struggled to maintain order as looting and vandalism spread across the UK.
London community pharmacies suffered the most, with an ABC-branded pharmacy in Peckham clocking up damage worth £130,000. Others suffered smoke damage, smashed windows and looting, and the NPA reported a surge in insurance claims following the unrest.
"We had to flee for our lives"
Pharmacist Rebecca Fiagbe described the fear felt in some London pharmacies as looters headed their way
Villain of the month:
NHS Prescription Services
As if you couldn't guess, NHS PS yet again missed out on the flavour-of-the-month spot after C+D revealed that it couldn't estimate how likely it was to pay individual contractors correctly.
Pilot of the month:
Sainsbury's vending machines
The supermarket confirmed plans to roll out its vending machine pilot after reporting high uptake and popularity among all ages – one patient registered was 84 years old.
Most popular story of the month:
Exclusive: Letter reveals locum rate drops at Co-operative Pharmacy