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Pharmacy First proves popular with public but supply issues cause concern ... id they were comfortable discussing health with pharmacists. Around two-thirds said they would use a pharmacy for eye infections (67%), skin problems (66%) and management of high blood pressure or asthma (65%). Healthwatch has also advocated an expansion of Pharmacy First but believes key barriers need to be addressed. The organisation has called for clear public guidance on what to do if medic ... Date: 04-07-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News • Pharmacy First
Pharmacy can breathe new life into respiratory care, says new NPA chief ... ering preventative public health interventions more broadly. Henry Gregg, who took up the post on 27 May, previously led high-profile public health campaigns as a director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, resulting in planned legislation to ban cigarette sales for those born after 2009 and the restriction of smoking outside hospitals, schools and playgrounds. Speaking at a recent introduct ... Date: 27-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory
Quick quiz – asthma treatment regimens ... ries of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through them to enhance your understanding of diagnosis and management of key conditions. You are a practice pharmacist, carrying out an asthma medication review. Your next patient is a woman in her 30s who uses a combined metered dose inhaler (MDI), via a spacer, with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and salmeterol as the long-acting beta ag ... Date: 25-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Respiratory
Pharmacies deliver highest rate of flu vaccines ‘outside pandemic’ in 2024/25 ... Community Pharmacy England (CPE) recently recommended expanding community pharmacy services to include the provision of further respiratory care such as annual asthma reviews and pneumococcal vaccinations to help prevent a future winter respiratory health crisis. Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • Latest News • News • Respiratory • Vaccinations and infections
Ten tips for optimising asthma management at review Respiratory lead pharmacist Nazir Hussain offers his top practical tips on how to conduct effective asthma reviews and optimise asthma medication in line with updated asthma guidelines The joint asthma guidelines from NICE, the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines ... Date: 11-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory
Chronic asthma guideline: pharmacological management updates In her second article on the new UK joint guidelines for chronic asthma, pharmacist Ravijyot Saggu discusses the principles of pharmacological management it outlines, how new maintenance and combination treatments will contribute to improved outcomes and opportunities to ... Date: 09-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory
How pharmacists run lipid management in practice ... ults and provide same-week consultation across the PCN to ensure guideline-driven care. As a PCN, we plan to use the same model to develop long-term condition disease management for asthma, COPD and diabetes. This article was first published by our sister title Pulse PCN Date: 04-06-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • In Practice
Chronic asthma guideline: diagnosis and management update The long-awaited UK national joint guidelines for chronic asthma were launched at the 2024 Winter British Thoracic Society meeting. In this first of two articles, respiratory pharmacist Ravijyot Saggu explores the key updates and implications of the new guidelines ... Date: 02-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory
Government urged to expand pharmacy respiratory services to ease winter pressures ... s urged. Launching a new joint action plan with Taskforce for Lung Health, CPE recommended expanding community pharmacy services to include the provision of further respiratory care such as annual asthma reviews and pneumococcal vaccinations to help prevent a future winter respiratory health crisis. CPE outlined that lung diseases are the leading driver of emergency admissions, and last winter saw ... Date: 27-05-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory
New NPA chief executive begins in post Former director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK Henry Gregg has today started in post as the new chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). When he was appointed in March, Mr Gregg vowed to build strong links with the ... Date: 27-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News
Quick quiz – Switching patients to ‘greener’ inhalers ... series of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through the questions to enhance your understanding of management of key conditions. You are a practice pharmacist conducting an asthma medication review. Your next patient is a woman in her early 30s who is being prescribed an inhaled steroid and salbutamol inhaler. She asks you about using inhalers which have less of an impact on t ... Date: 21-05-2025 Categories: • Respiratory
Pharmacies voted most accessible healthcare location ... cross England would support increasing the range of respiratory health services offered by pharmacies, including: more help with coughs and colds 85%, assessments and support for people with asthma (85%), a wider range of vaccinations (85%), and stop smoking services with needing a referral (84%). Expanding Pharmacy First could help mitigate winter pressures Dr Nick Thayer, head of pol ... Date: 20-05-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Pharmacy First • Respiratory
Around 1.5 million UK citizens used weight-loss jabs in March 2025 ... sed that there was still a £72m or 17% increase in other private treatments once weight-loss medication was excluded. The biggest area for growth outside of obesity medication was anti-asthma and COPD, IQVIA revealed. Other areas of growth included phsycoanaleptics, hormone therapies, central nervous system drugs and oncology. Mr Pilsbruy said that it was an ‘exciting time for innovation’ in dr ... Date: 12-05-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • News
Prescription charge frozen for 2025/26 ... ement, listen to the concerns of patients and health professionals, and bring about an end to unaffordable prescription charges in England.' Jonathan Blades, head of policy at Asthma + Lung UK said the charity knew of 'many people... having to make the unthinkable choice between food and other essentials and paying for prescriptions'. He said the freezing of prescription charges was 'a welcome fir ... Date: 28-04-2025 Categories: • Community • News
Afternoon inhaler use gives effective asthma control, study finds Timing the use of a commonly prescribed asthma inhaler in the mid-afternoon could lead to improved clinical outcomes, according to new research led by the University of Manchester. The study, published in Thorax, found that a once-daily dose o ... Date: 17-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory
Depression meds to be added to NMS from October ... ational service sees community pharmacists in England commissioned to support patients with medicines adherence. It already applies to medication for several long-term conditions, including: asthma and COPD diabetes (Type 2) hypertension epilepsy Parkinson’s disease heart failure atrial fibrillation And from October 2025, the NMS will also cover medications used to treat dep ... Date: 03-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • Mental health and addiction • News
New QOF guidance on asthma tests aligns with NICE recommendations Advice on asthma diagnosis has been updated under newly published GP Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) guidance for 2025/26 so it no longer conflicts with separate UK joint guidelines issued last autumn by NICE. ... Date: 02-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory
NPA announces Asthma + Lung's Henry Gregg as new chief executive Henry Gregg, currently director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, will become the next chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). He will begin the role on Tuesday 27 May, the NPA board announced today. Mr Gregg has previously work ... Date: 28-03-2025 Categories: • Community • News
Quick quiz – child asthma medication review Our quick quizzes aim to test your knowledge through a series of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through the questions to enhance your understanding of management of asthma in children. You are a practice pharmacist, conducting a medication review of a child with asthma. The patient is an 8-year-old girl who was diagnosed with asthma three years ago. You notice ... Date: 13-03-2025 Categories: • Respiratory
Beyond ARRS: The impact and future for community pharmacy Pharmacists in general practice are popular with patients and with GP employers – but their recruitment from a struggling community pharmacy sector has left its mark. As community pharmacy looks towards ... Date: 07-03-2025 Categories: • Analysis • Community • Workforce report
Patients encouraged to return used inhalers to pharmacies ... r 1,000 patients The mean emissions of Short-acting beta-2 agonists (SABAs) inhalers prescribed The percentage of non-SABA inhalers that are MDIs (Metered Dose Inhalers) New NICE guidance on asthma published in November set out that the use of short-acting beta agonist (SABA) inhalers alone should be replaced by the use of combined inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/formoterol inhalers. And in a r ... Date: 24-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • Respiratory
Patients with stable asthma keen to step down medication, research finds Patients with stable asthma are keen to ‘step down’ their medication when appropriate, say researchers who surveyed general practice patients across England. It follows another recent study from the same team who found moder ... Date: 14-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory
Foundation trainee pharmacists in general practice: what's in it for me? ... ng structured templates. They also conduct NHS Health Checks for patients who have had blood tests in advance, again using standardised templates. The same applies to maintenance reviews for asthma and COPD, among other conditions. Trainees have a key role in maximising QOF payments, ensuring 100% return on domains – AF, CHD, HYP, STIA, AST, COPD, DEP, CKD, EP, CHOL, DM, SMOK, NDH, MH within their sc ... Date: 05-02-2025 Categories: • In Practice • Views
NICE approves house dust mite allergy therapy for those with severe symptoms ... Acarizax (also known as 12 SQ-HDM SLIT) was recommended for persistent moderate to severe allergic rhinitis in patients aged 12 to 65 years. But the committee did not recommend the therapy for asthma caused by house dust mite allergy as the evidence suggested it would not be cost effective in this group. The three-year treatment – taken as a dissolvable tablet under the tongue – should be initiat ... Date: 03-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory
Most patients unsure when their asthma inhaler is empty, research shows More than half of patients are unsure when their asthma inhaler is empty, with some continuing to use the device when it is empty with ‘serious implications’ for managing their condition, research has shown. A study measured the amount of medicine left ... Date: 27-01-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory
Latest report on child asthma deaths highlights stark impact of deprivation Children from the most deprived areas are four times more likely to die from an asthma attack, a charity has warned. Asthma + Lung UK called on the Government to take ‘urgent action’ to prevent child asthma deaths including tackling poor housing conditions and air pollution. It c ... Date: 20-12-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Paediatrics • Respiratory
GPhC November pass rate drops again to 2022 levels Just 58% of trainee pharmacists passed the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)'s national registration assessment this November, the regulator has announced. This brings the pass rates back down almost ... Date: 17-12-2024 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Pharmacy First
NICE finalises long-awaited joint guidance overhauling asthma care Long-awaited joint UK guidelines for asthma have been finalised, overhauling recommendations for diagnostics and treatment of the condition. In June, draft guidance published by NICE, BTS and SIGN revealed significant changes to the current ... Date: 28-11-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory
Lung cancer: Not just a smoker’s disease ... cists need to know about lung cancer in people who have never smoked, says Krishma Patel, clinical pharmacist As part of my job as a clinical pharmacist at a GP practice in Hertfordshire, I hold asthma and COPD clinics with patients. As well as going through patients’ medication, checking inhaler technique and discussing any concerns patients might have, I am also looking out for flare-ups in symptom ... Date: 27-11-2024 Categories: • Cancer • Clinical • Respiratory
Local systems must involve community pharmacy to improve population health ... ly funding for a small amount of time,' Ms Shah said. She argued that similar services should be commissioned on an ongoing basis from community pharmacies for a variety of vaccinations. Managing asthma amid air pollution in Newham The borough of Newham has some of the highest levels of air pollution in London, with Newham residents estimated to be exposed to a level of airborne particulate matter ... Date: 18-11-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory
The GP Awards shortlist: St Austell Healthcare Group Clinical Pharmacist Team ... . Each pharmacist in the St Austell team has an area of special interest, allowing them to provide targeted support across a range of conditions, including hypertension, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, diabetes, HRT and pain management. The team’s organisation of responsibilities by special interest areas has ensured that patients receive focused and high-quality care. This approach not only supports ... Date: 01-11-2024 Categories: • In Practice • Interviews
The GP Awards shortlist: Nazir Hussain, specialist respiratory pharmacist ... cal leadership, combined with a compassionate and proactive approach, has had a direct and measurable impact on patient outcomes. Nazir’s clinic allows early and accurate diagnosis for asthma and COPD patients, reducing the long wait times often experienced for respiratory outpatient appointments. His approach has enabled patients to begin treatment faster, leading to better disease management and re ... Date: 24-10-2024 Categories: • In Practice • Interviews
Women with asthma may have higher risk of miscarriage and fertility problems A study showing women with asthma are more likely to miscarry and have fertility problems highlights the need for good disease control in this group, researchers said. The Danish team of researchers said the risk appeared higher i ... Date: 08-10-2024 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory
Long-awaited joint asthma guidance overhauls diagnostics and treatment Long-awaited new draft UK joint guidelines on asthma care overhauls recommended diagnostics and treatment, but the review committee warned they will require ‘significant investment’. Draft NICE/BTS/SIGN guidelines on diagnosis, monitoring and manage ... Date: 27-06-2024 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • News • Respiratory
Statin tops NHS prescribing once again as total number of items continues to increase ... e with the highest cost for items dispensed in the community in England, was the steroid beclometasone dipropionate, with a total cost of £316 million in 2023/24. It is primarily used for asthma, but also sometimes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Apixaban was the substance with the second highest cost, at £239m, while rivaroxaban, edoxaban, omeprazole and atorvastatin were also in t ... Date: 06-06-2024 Categories: • Analysis • Analysis • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Women's health
Pharmacy First: Tips for diagnosing and treating uncomplicated UTI in women ... soap) or thrush (see Case study 2). Case study 2 Jeanette has just finished a course of antibiotics for an exacerbation of her asthma. She has developed thrush as an adverse effect of these, which is making it very uncomfortable for her to pass urine, causing burning and stinging every time that she goes. She has seen an advert for Pharmacy First and come to enquire about whether she has a UTI and nee ... Date: 25-03-2024 Categories: • Pharmacy First • Vaccinations and infections • Women's health
Poorly controlled asthma contributing to greenhouse gas emissions Poorly controlled asthma is contributing to more than 300,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK every year, an analysis has suggested. Most of the carbon footprint comes from over-reliance on reliever inhalers, a ... Date: 01-03-2024 Categories: • Respiratory
Former health secretary praises ‘sensible approach’ of Pharmacy First ... s?’ She also suggested that community pharmacies could play ‘an important role’ in helping to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension and asthma, as well as in reducing over-prescribing. Dame Andrea responded that ‘community pharmacists have for some time now been delivering blood pressure checks, which in some cases are truly lifesaving’. She added: ‘This is amazing patient access and ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First
Seven in 10 back data sharing between clinicians ... she suggested that community pharmacies could provide more ongoing support for other conditions such as diabetes, asthma and respiratory disease. Public health messaging ‘essential’ Wider structural changes outside the NHS are also needed to tackle social determinants of poor health, the report suggested. For example, it proposed expanding the sugar tax to other sugary and highly salty foods. ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Don’t forget clinical capacity of non-prescribers, urges GPhC ... could consist of ‘appointment led caseload work where we're taking pre-diagnosed patients from doctors and helping them maintain their diabetes medicines, their asthma preparations’, said Mr Koziol. This could come alongside a ‘population health model’, which could see a community pharmacist make clinical recommendations on over-the-counter medication based on knowledge of the patient’s other medica ... Date: 23-01-2024 Categories: • Community • News
Trainee pharmacists must have ‘nominated prescribing area’ ... harmacist noted in response that this could be an area which a pharmacist prescriber already works in, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, asthma, heart failure, COPD or lipid modification. Also commenting on the guidance on X, primary care lead at the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists Laura Buckley said that consideration needed to be given as to how this requirement would be delivered ‘across sett ... Date: 17-01-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
Pharmacists surveyed on prescription charges ... ction with strong anti-inflammatory tablets such as Naproxen, which can lead to an increased risk of developing a stomach ulcer. ‘There have also been reports of patients with asthma, a long-term respiratory condition, refusing steroid inhalers due to cost and rationing their reliever inhalers instead, despite the advice of the pharmacist. This has a considerable effect on their long-term health,’ th ... Date: 16-01-2024 Categories: • Community • News
CMO: Cardiovascular disease prevention ‘can go further’ with pharmacy support ... that community pharmacies could be locally commissioned to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension, lipid control and asthma. And within 10 years, the hypertension and atrial fibrillation case-finding service could become one of a set of essential services which all community pharmacies would be expected to provide, the report suggested. Date: 03-11-2023 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Community • News
‘See Through the Symptoms’: Suspecting lung cancer in people who have never smoked ... or steroids back-to-back or in quick succession for apparent persistent chest infections. Patients who make repeat purchases of over-the-counter cough, cold and sore throat remedies. Asthmatic patients who request their prescribed inhalers more frequently than usual. Patients who ask advice about ongoing problems with hoarseness or heartburn. Patients seeking pain relief for persistent uppe ... Date: 02-11-2023 Categories: • Cancer • Respiratory
'Support collaboration’ between community pharmacists and general practice, report urges ... liver clinical services over the next five and 10 years, including cancer referrals and managing long-term conditions like asthma, hypertension, atrial fibrillation and menopause and HRT. And in addition to offering walk-in services, the report also suggested that community pharmacies could offer some longer consultations on an appointment basis, including remotely. Helen Buckingham, director of s ... Date: 20-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News
New community pharmacy vision ‘a powerful tool’ for negotiator ... ction, and smoking cessation. The report also suggested that community pharmacies could be locally commissioned to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension, lipid control and asthma. And within 10 years, the hypertension and atrial fibrillation case-finding service, flu and Covid-19 vaccination service and cancer detection and referrals could become essential services which all community p ... Date: 19-09-2023 Categories: • News
PCN to use conversation app to improve medicines adherence ... wn medicine use at home without requiring additional clinical time. Eden PCN, which supports 54,000 patients, will deploy the Aide app to help improve management of long-term conditions, including asthma, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The plain-language app has short, daily ‘conversations’ with patients and is intended to help shared-decision making to reduce the need for unplanned visit to th ... Date: 13-09-2023 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Respiratory
Respiratory symptoms linked to young people who vape ... served associations, but the findings remained statistically significant for everything except wheeze, the researchers reported in Thorax. Associations also persisted when lifetime history of asthma as reported at the first survey was taken into account, the researchers said. But vaping frequency or type of vaping was not looked at which may have influenced the respiratory effects reported, they n ... Date: 21-08-2023 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory
Government urged to consider restrictions for vapes ‘similar to tobacco products’ ... ing, and calling for action to prevent under 18s from accessing vapes. The move follows a committee evidence session which heard concerns from health and school leaders about an ‘increase in asthma, wheeze and bronchitis-type presentations’ in children which have been linked to vaping. In the same session, hosted in June, a discussion also broke out on whether e-cigarettes and vapes should be made ... Date: 20-07-2023 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory
Alzheimer’s drug donanemab ‘effective’ but ‘a way off’, says expert ... anemab were ‘the first steps towards a future where Alzheimer’s disease could be considered a long-term condition alongside diabetes or asthma’. He added that people living with Alzheimer’s ‘could have treatments that allow them to effectively manage their symptoms and continue to live fulfilled lives’. Dr Oakley noted that it was ‘important to note that side effects did occur, although serious si ... Date: 19-07-2023 Categories: • Clinical • Mental health and addiction • News

Pharmacy First proves popular with public but supply issues cause concern ... id they were comfortable discussing health with pharmacists. Around two-thirds said they would use a pharmacy for eye infections (67%), skin problems (66%) and management of high blood pressure or asthma (65%). Healthwatch has also advocated an expansion of Pharmacy First but believes key barriers need to be addressed. The organisation has called for clear public guidance on what to do if medic ... Date: 04-07-2025 Categories: • Community • Latest News • News • Pharmacy First

Pharmacy can breathe new life into respiratory care, says new NPA chief ... ering preventative public health interventions more broadly. Henry Gregg, who took up the post on 27 May, previously led high-profile public health campaigns as a director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, resulting in planned legislation to ban cigarette sales for those born after 2009 and the restriction of smoking outside hospitals, schools and playgrounds. Speaking at a recent introduct ... Date: 27-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory

Quick quiz – asthma treatment regimens ... ries of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through them to enhance your understanding of diagnosis and management of key conditions. You are a practice pharmacist, carrying out an asthma medication review. Your next patient is a woman in her 30s who uses a combined metered dose inhaler (MDI), via a spacer, with an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and salmeterol as the long-acting beta ag ... Date: 25-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Respiratory

Pharmacies deliver highest rate of flu vaccines ‘outside pandemic’ in 2024/25 ... Community Pharmacy England (CPE) recently recommended expanding community pharmacy services to include the provision of further respiratory care such as annual asthma reviews and pneumococcal vaccinations to help prevent a future winter respiratory health crisis. Date: 19-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • Latest News • News • Respiratory • Vaccinations and infections

Ten tips for optimising asthma management at review Respiratory lead pharmacist Nazir Hussain offers his top practical tips on how to conduct effective asthma reviews and optimise asthma medication in line with updated asthma guidelines The joint asthma guidelines from NICE, the British Thoracic Society (BTS) and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines ... Date: 11-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory

Chronic asthma guideline: pharmacological management updates In her second article on the new UK joint guidelines for chronic asthma, pharmacist Ravijyot Saggu discusses the principles of pharmacological management it outlines, how new maintenance and combination treatments will contribute to improved outcomes and opportunities to ... Date: 09-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory

How pharmacists run lipid management in practice ... ults and provide same-week consultation across the PCN to ensure guideline-driven care. As a PCN, we plan to use the same model to develop long-term condition disease management for asthma, COPD and diabetes. This article was first published by our sister title Pulse PCN Date: 04-06-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • In Practice

Chronic asthma guideline: diagnosis and management update The long-awaited UK national joint guidelines for chronic asthma were launched at the 2024 Winter British Thoracic Society meeting. In this first of two articles, respiratory pharmacist Ravijyot Saggu explores the key updates and implications of the new guidelines ... Date: 02-06-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory

Government urged to expand pharmacy respiratory services to ease winter pressures ... s urged. Launching a new joint action plan with Taskforce for Lung Health, CPE recommended expanding community pharmacy services to include the provision of further respiratory care such as annual asthma reviews and pneumococcal vaccinations to help prevent a future winter respiratory health crisis. CPE outlined that lung diseases are the leading driver of emergency admissions, and last winter saw ... Date: 27-05-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory

New NPA chief executive begins in post Former director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK Henry Gregg has today started in post as the new chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). When he was appointed in March, Mr Gregg vowed to build strong links with the ... Date: 27-05-2025 Categories: • Community • News

Quick quiz – Switching patients to ‘greener’ inhalers ... series of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through the questions to enhance your understanding of management of key conditions. You are a practice pharmacist conducting an asthma medication review. Your next patient is a woman in her early 30s who is being prescribed an inhaled steroid and salbutamol inhaler. She asks you about using inhalers which have less of an impact on t ... Date: 21-05-2025 Categories: • Respiratory

Pharmacies voted most accessible healthcare location ... cross England would support increasing the range of respiratory health services offered by pharmacies, including: more help with coughs and colds 85%, assessments and support for people with asthma (85%), a wider range of vaccinations (85%), and stop smoking services with needing a referral (84%). Expanding Pharmacy First could help mitigate winter pressures Dr Nick Thayer, head of pol ... Date: 20-05-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Pharmacy First • Respiratory

Around 1.5 million UK citizens used weight-loss jabs in March 2025 ... sed that there was still a £72m or 17% increase in other private treatments once weight-loss medication was excluded. The biggest area for growth outside of obesity medication was anti-asthma and COPD, IQVIA revealed. Other areas of growth included phsycoanaleptics, hormone therapies, central nervous system drugs and oncology. Mr Pilsbruy said that it was an ‘exciting time for innovation’ in dr ... Date: 12-05-2025 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • News

Prescription charge frozen for 2025/26 ... ement, listen to the concerns of patients and health professionals, and bring about an end to unaffordable prescription charges in England.' Jonathan Blades, head of policy at Asthma + Lung UK said the charity knew of 'many people... having to make the unthinkable choice between food and other essentials and paying for prescriptions'. He said the freezing of prescription charges was 'a welcome fir ... Date: 28-04-2025 Categories: • Community • News

Afternoon inhaler use gives effective asthma control, study finds Timing the use of a commonly prescribed asthma inhaler in the mid-afternoon could lead to improved clinical outcomes, according to new research led by the University of Manchester. The study, published in Thorax, found that a once-daily dose o ... Date: 17-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory

Depression meds to be added to NMS from October ... ational service sees community pharmacists in England commissioned to support patients with medicines adherence. It already applies to medication for several long-term conditions, including: asthma and COPD diabetes (Type 2) hypertension epilepsy Parkinson’s disease heart failure atrial fibrillation And from October 2025, the NMS will also cover medications used to treat dep ... Date: 03-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • Mental health and addiction • News

New QOF guidance on asthma tests aligns with NICE recommendations Advice on asthma diagnosis has been updated under newly published GP Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) guidance for 2025/26 so it no longer conflicts with separate UK joint guidelines issued last autumn by NICE. ... Date: 02-04-2025 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • Respiratory

NPA announces Asthma + Lung's Henry Gregg as new chief executive Henry Gregg, currently director of external affairs at Asthma + Lung UK, will become the next chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). He will begin the role on Tuesday 27 May, the NPA board announced today. Mr Gregg has previously work ... Date: 28-03-2025 Categories: • Community • News

Quick quiz – child asthma medication review Our quick quizzes aim to test your knowledge through a series of illustrative cases and scenarios. Work your way through the questions to enhance your understanding of management of asthma in children. You are a practice pharmacist, conducting a medication review of a child with asthma. The patient is an 8-year-old girl who was diagnosed with asthma three years ago. You notice ... Date: 13-03-2025 Categories: • Respiratory

Beyond ARRS: The impact and future for community pharmacy Pharmacists in general practice are popular with patients and with GP employers – but their recruitment from a struggling community pharmacy sector has left its mark. As community pharmacy looks towards ... Date: 07-03-2025 Categories: • Analysis • Community • Workforce report

Patients encouraged to return used inhalers to pharmacies ... r 1,000 patients The mean emissions of Short-acting beta-2 agonists (SABAs) inhalers prescribed The percentage of non-SABA inhalers that are MDIs (Metered Dose Inhalers) New NICE guidance on asthma published in November set out that the use of short-acting beta agonist (SABA) inhalers alone should be replaced by the use of combined inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/formoterol inhalers. And in a r ... Date: 24-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • Respiratory

Patients with stable asthma keen to step down medication, research finds Patients with stable asthma are keen to ‘step down’ their medication when appropriate, say researchers who surveyed general practice patients across England. It follows another recent study from the same team who found moder ... Date: 14-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory

Foundation trainee pharmacists in general practice: what's in it for me? ... ng structured templates. They also conduct NHS Health Checks for patients who have had blood tests in advance, again using standardised templates. The same applies to maintenance reviews for asthma and COPD, among other conditions. Trainees have a key role in maximising QOF payments, ensuring 100% return on domains – AF, CHD, HYP, STIA, AST, COPD, DEP, CKD, EP, CHOL, DM, SMOK, NDH, MH within their sc ... Date: 05-02-2025 Categories: • In Practice • Views

NICE approves house dust mite allergy therapy for those with severe symptoms ... Acarizax (also known as 12 SQ-HDM SLIT) was recommended for persistent moderate to severe allergic rhinitis in patients aged 12 to 65 years. But the committee did not recommend the therapy for asthma caused by house dust mite allergy as the evidence suggested it would not be cost effective in this group. The three-year treatment – taken as a dissolvable tablet under the tongue – should be initiat ... Date: 03-02-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory

Most patients unsure when their asthma inhaler is empty, research shows More than half of patients are unsure when their asthma inhaler is empty, with some continuing to use the device when it is empty with ‘serious implications’ for managing their condition, research has shown. A study measured the amount of medicine left ... Date: 27-01-2025 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory

Latest report on child asthma deaths highlights stark impact of deprivation Children from the most deprived areas are four times more likely to die from an asthma attack, a charity has warned. Asthma + Lung UK called on the Government to take ‘urgent action’ to prevent child asthma deaths including tackling poor housing conditions and air pollution. It c ... Date: 20-12-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Paediatrics • Respiratory

GPhC November pass rate drops again to 2022 levels Just 58% of trainee pharmacists passed the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)'s national registration assessment this November, the regulator has announced. This brings the pass rates back down almost ... Date: 17-12-2024 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Pharmacy First

NICE finalises long-awaited joint guidance overhauling asthma care Long-awaited joint UK guidelines for asthma have been finalised, overhauling recommendations for diagnostics and treatment of the condition. In June, draft guidance published by NICE, BTS and SIGN revealed significant changes to the current ... Date: 28-11-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • In Practice • News • Respiratory

Lung cancer: Not just a smoker’s disease ... cists need to know about lung cancer in people who have never smoked, says Krishma Patel, clinical pharmacist As part of my job as a clinical pharmacist at a GP practice in Hertfordshire, I hold asthma and COPD clinics with patients. As well as going through patients’ medication, checking inhaler technique and discussing any concerns patients might have, I am also looking out for flare-ups in symptom ... Date: 27-11-2024 Categories: • Cancer • Clinical • Respiratory

Local systems must involve community pharmacy to improve population health ... ly funding for a small amount of time,' Ms Shah said. She argued that similar services should be commissioned on an ongoing basis from community pharmacies for a variety of vaccinations. Managing asthma amid air pollution in Newham The borough of Newham has some of the highest levels of air pollution in London, with Newham residents estimated to be exposed to a level of airborne particulate matter ... Date: 18-11-2024 Categories: • Clinical • Community • News • Respiratory

The GP Awards shortlist: St Austell Healthcare Group Clinical Pharmacist Team ... . Each pharmacist in the St Austell team has an area of special interest, allowing them to provide targeted support across a range of conditions, including hypertension, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, diabetes, HRT and pain management. The team’s organisation of responsibilities by special interest areas has ensured that patients receive focused and high-quality care. This approach not only supports ... Date: 01-11-2024 Categories: • In Practice • Interviews

The GP Awards shortlist: Nazir Hussain, specialist respiratory pharmacist ... cal leadership, combined with a compassionate and proactive approach, has had a direct and measurable impact on patient outcomes. Nazir’s clinic allows early and accurate diagnosis for asthma and COPD patients, reducing the long wait times often experienced for respiratory outpatient appointments. His approach has enabled patients to begin treatment faster, leading to better disease management and re ... Date: 24-10-2024 Categories: • In Practice • Interviews

Women with asthma may have higher risk of miscarriage and fertility problems A study showing women with asthma are more likely to miscarry and have fertility problems highlights the need for good disease control in this group, researchers said. The Danish team of researchers said the risk appeared higher i ... Date: 08-10-2024 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory

Long-awaited joint asthma guidance overhauls diagnostics and treatment Long-awaited new draft UK joint guidelines on asthma care overhauls recommended diagnostics and treatment, but the review committee warned they will require ‘significant investment’. Draft NICE/BTS/SIGN guidelines on diagnosis, monitoring and manage ... Date: 27-06-2024 Categories: • Clinical • In Practice • News • Respiratory

Statin tops NHS prescribing once again as total number of items continues to increase ... e with the highest cost for items dispensed in the community in England, was the steroid beclometasone dipropionate, with a total cost of £316 million in 2023/24. It is primarily used for asthma, but also sometimes for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Apixaban was the substance with the second highest cost, at £239m, while rivaroxaban, edoxaban, omeprazole and atorvastatin were also in t ... Date: 06-06-2024 Categories: • Analysis • Analysis • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Community • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Women's health

Pharmacy First: Tips for diagnosing and treating uncomplicated UTI in women ... soap) or thrush (see Case study 2). Case study 2 Jeanette has just finished a course of antibiotics for an exacerbation of her asthma. She has developed thrush as an adverse effect of these, which is making it very uncomfortable for her to pass urine, causing burning and stinging every time that she goes. She has seen an advert for Pharmacy First and come to enquire about whether she has a UTI and nee ... Date: 25-03-2024 Categories: • Pharmacy First • Vaccinations and infections • Women's health

Poorly controlled asthma contributing to greenhouse gas emissions Poorly controlled asthma is contributing to more than 300,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK every year, an analysis has suggested. Most of the carbon footprint comes from over-reliance on reliever inhalers, a ... Date: 01-03-2024 Categories: • Respiratory

Former health secretary praises ‘sensible approach’ of Pharmacy First ... s?’ She also suggested that community pharmacies could play ‘an important role’ in helping to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension and asthma, as well as in reducing over-prescribing. Dame Andrea responded that ‘community pharmacists have for some time now been delivering blood pressure checks, which in some cases are truly lifesaving’. She added: ‘This is amazing patient access and ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News • Pharmacy First

Seven in 10 back data sharing between clinicians ... she suggested that community pharmacies could provide more ongoing support for other conditions such as diabetes, asthma and respiratory disease. Public health messaging ‘essential’ Wider structural changes outside the NHS are also needed to tackle social determinants of poor health, the report suggested. For example, it proposed expanding the sugar tax to other sugary and highly salty foods. ... Date: 08-02-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Don’t forget clinical capacity of non-prescribers, urges GPhC ... could consist of ‘appointment led caseload work where we're taking pre-diagnosed patients from doctors and helping them maintain their diabetes medicines, their asthma preparations’, said Mr Koziol. This could come alongside a ‘population health model’, which could see a community pharmacist make clinical recommendations on over-the-counter medication based on knowledge of the patient’s other medica ... Date: 23-01-2024 Categories: • Community • News

Trainee pharmacists must have ‘nominated prescribing area’ ... harmacist noted in response that this could be an area which a pharmacist prescriber already works in, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, asthma, heart failure, COPD or lipid modification. Also commenting on the guidance on X, primary care lead at the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists Laura Buckley said that consideration needed to be given as to how this requirement would be delivered ‘across sett ... Date: 17-01-2024 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

Pharmacists surveyed on prescription charges ... ction with strong anti-inflammatory tablets such as Naproxen, which can lead to an increased risk of developing a stomach ulcer. ‘There have also been reports of patients with asthma, a long-term respiratory condition, refusing steroid inhalers due to cost and rationing their reliever inhalers instead, despite the advice of the pharmacist. This has a considerable effect on their long-term health,’ th ... Date: 16-01-2024 Categories: • Community • News

CMO: Cardiovascular disease prevention ‘can go further’ with pharmacy support ... that community pharmacies could be locally commissioned to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension, lipid control and asthma. And within 10 years, the hypertension and atrial fibrillation case-finding service could become one of a set of essential services which all community pharmacies would be expected to provide, the report suggested. Date: 03-11-2023 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Community • News

‘See Through the Symptoms’: Suspecting lung cancer in people who have never smoked ... or steroids back-to-back or in quick succession for apparent persistent chest infections. Patients who make repeat purchases of over-the-counter cough, cold and sore throat remedies. Asthmatic patients who request their prescribed inhalers more frequently than usual. Patients who ask advice about ongoing problems with hoarseness or heartburn. Patients seeking pain relief for persistent uppe ... Date: 02-11-2023 Categories: • Cancer • Respiratory

'Support collaboration’ between community pharmacists and general practice, report urges ... liver clinical services over the next five and 10 years, including cancer referrals and managing long-term conditions like asthma, hypertension, atrial fibrillation and menopause and HRT. And in addition to offering walk-in services, the report also suggested that community pharmacies could offer some longer consultations on an appointment basis, including remotely. Helen Buckingham, director of s ... Date: 20-09-2023 Categories: • Community • In Practice • News

New community pharmacy vision ‘a powerful tool’ for negotiator ... ction, and smoking cessation. The report also suggested that community pharmacies could be locally commissioned to manage long-term conditions such as hypertension, lipid control and asthma. And within 10 years, the hypertension and atrial fibrillation case-finding service, flu and Covid-19 vaccination service and cancer detection and referrals could become essential services which all community p ... Date: 19-09-2023 Categories: • News

PCN to use conversation app to improve medicines adherence ... wn medicine use at home without requiring additional clinical time. Eden PCN, which supports 54,000 patients, will deploy the Aide app to help improve management of long-term conditions, including asthma, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The plain-language app has short, daily ‘conversations’ with patients and is intended to help shared-decision making to reduce the need for unplanned visit to th ... Date: 13-09-2023 Categories: • Cardiovascular • Clinical • Diabetes and endocrinology • In Practice • News • Respiratory

Respiratory symptoms linked to young people who vape ... served associations, but the findings remained statistically significant for everything except wheeze, the researchers reported in Thorax. Associations also persisted when lifetime history of asthma as reported at the first survey was taken into account, the researchers said. But vaping frequency or type of vaping was not looked at which may have influenced the respiratory effects reported, they n ... Date: 21-08-2023 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory

Government urged to consider restrictions for vapes ‘similar to tobacco products’ ... ing, and calling for action to prevent under 18s from accessing vapes. The move follows a committee evidence session which heard concerns from health and school leaders about an ‘increase in asthma, wheeze and bronchitis-type presentations’ in children which have been linked to vaping. In the same session, hosted in June, a discussion also broke out on whether e-cigarettes and vapes should be made ... Date: 20-07-2023 Categories: • Clinical • News • Respiratory

Alzheimer’s drug donanemab ‘effective’ but ‘a way off’, says expert ... anemab were ‘the first steps towards a future where Alzheimer’s disease could be considered a long-term condition alongside diabetes or asthma’. He added that people living with Alzheimer’s ‘could have treatments that allow them to effectively manage their symptoms and continue to live fulfilled lives’. Dr Oakley noted that it was ‘important to note that side effects did occur, although serious si ... Date: 19-07-2023 Categories: • Clinical • Mental health and addiction • News

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