The Royal Pharmaceutical Society has been unable to reveal how many pharmacists renewed their membership by the 1st March deadline due to IT problems. The RPS has said that over half of registered pharmacists had renewed but it needed to clear the backlog of applicants online before it could provide an accurate figure. The society […]

The Scottish Government has won the approval of Holyrood’s health committee to remove the current £3 NHS prescription charge. Labour supports this plan however the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats believe the cash could be better spent in other areas. Wales and Northern Ireland have already removed NHS prescription charges, which cost £7.10 per item in […]

Flame Pharma attended the recent AstraZeneca careers fair on 16th February.  The day was the second time that we were invited to attend the careers fair, and provided us chance to speak to candidates and clients regarding new opportunities and our services.  We had a successful visit, interacting with scientific and clinical professionals looking for […]

The GPHC is seeking views on its proposed fees for 2012, which include a plan to raise pharmacists’ renewal fees to £272. A consultation on the proposals has now been launched and will run until 12th May. As a pharmacist, do you feel these renewal fees are acceptable? The GPHC said the 4% fee rise […]

Comic Relief has announced sight as a key theme of its celebrity challenge. A 5 day challenge will see celebrities trek 100km across the desert in Northern Kenya. During the trek they will witness the trachoma and cataract work of international charity Sightsavers, which will benefit from money donated to Comic Relief. Flame Health think […]

If funding from the optical profession is secured then a new scheme could be rolled out to highlight optometry as a future career option for 14-17 year olds. Pilots were put in place in 7 schools last year which proved to be a success. The scheme would cost £75,000 to reach around 2,000 schools across […]

The NHS Modernising Pharmacy Careers programme has proposed a 5 year course with employers taking more responsibility for pharmacy training and the pre reg year being replaced by 2 six month placements worked in years 4 and 5. A pharmacy degree allows a student to understand the technical knowledge to be a pharmacist, only by […]

Flame Pharma will be attending the AstraZeneca Career Fair on 16th and 17th February at their Charnwood site. Following on from a previous visit to Charnwood and Avlon Works, Flame Pharma are continuing to help AstraZeneca during the closure by attending again. Attending the fair will be Neil Dewsbury, managing consultant of Flame Pharma and […]

Reports published by the REC and KPMG has shown that permanent staff placements and temporary/contract staff billings both rose at faster rates in January. These results are the most marked for 6 and 7 months respectively. 3 key points of the report are: stronger expansions of both permanent and temporary appointments, pay pressures remained muted […]

Flame Health will be again attending Optrafair from 9th – 11th April 2011 at the NEC in Birmingham. Optrafair is the biggest optical showcase of optical business opportunities in the UK. This year Optrafair owners have even opened up more floor space to accommodate a larger number of suppliers who wish to reach out to […]

Industry leaders have commented that the community pharmacy sector should have a bigger role in helping to deliver NHS flu vaccinations following reports of shortages this year. Pharmacies do have the commercial experience and expertise required, this could the free up GP’s to focus on the delivery of the vaccination programme. A Boots spokeswoman says: […]

According to the latest NHS stop smoking figures, pharmacies continue to have the lowest stop smoking rates among NHS providers in England. From April to September 2010 there was a 44% successful quit rate among pharmacy patients. Quit rates were higher among other providers such as hospitals wards and prisons, with military bases coming out […]

The Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has said that Pharmacists should make individual decisions on whether they want to join the RPS. John Murphy, general manager of the PDA stated that the RPS ought to be a professional body with people who have made a personal decision about whether they join or not. Employers signing pharmacists […]

The Office for National Statistics has shown a rise in the number of people now out of work which has increased by 49,000 to 2.5 million in the 3 months to November last year. Kevin Green, the REC’s Chief Executive has commented on this report, “ What is concerning about the figures is the growth […]

The Office for National Statistics has revealed a shock 0.5% contraction in the UK’s economy in the final quarter of 2010. Obviously this isn’t great news but understandable given the shocking weather the UK experienced in November and December. As a result of this, most sectors struggled to cope and many customers just stopped spending. […]