People

The inquest of a 22-year-old patient who received his prescription twice due to a “prescribing error” has raised concerns over Pharmacy2U’s “swift dispatch of medication”.

The PDA has confirmed that a “formal ballot” will take place to secure union recognition at Superdrug – with the vote forecasted to be concluded “by the spring” – after the chain said it is “not willing to recognise the PDA voluntarily”.

Pharmacy technicians, students and pharmacists are among those who are no longer free to practise tattooing or body piercing without a licence, while exemptions around take-home naloxone have expanded.

The High Court of Justice has called out the “gross incompetence and unfairness” of the GPhC’s handling of a pharmacist’s alleged role in “fraudulent” medication sales overseas, ordering the regulator to “undertake the whole process again”.

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) is preparing to support some 80 former Sainsbury’s pharmacists who only received statutory redundancy payments after Lloydspharmacy made them redundant in a four-day employment tribunal.

The BMA has urged GPs and community pharmacies to “work in a joined-up way” after GP leaders last week voted “overwhelmingly” for pharmacy blood pressure checks to be terminated immediately.

A 78-year-old woman has overdosed after being given excess diazepam and codeine she was “addicted to” ahead of an Easter bank holiday weekend, a coroner has found.

STV production staff have caught a glimpse of real-life pharmacy “critical scenarios” during an interview with Community Pharmacy Scotland’s (CPS) chief executive.

The four pharmacy bodies have together urged the government to “shield community pharmacies from…increased costs and measures” introduced in the October budget.

Day Lewis has announced the launch of a “joint venture scheme” allowing pharmacist managers to become co-owners of their pharmacy.