The chemist and druggist, 18/25. December 2010 (issue 6778)

September Category M dominates the early autumn headlines with the announcement that contractors face a £140 million clawback to be taken in three waves: £60m in October, a further £60m in January and the remaining £20m over the course of the next financial year. PSNC warns pharmacies to prepare for the cutbacks; multiples criticise the clawback and say they will need to make a series of spending cuts to manage; and experts warn the cuts could be the tipping point for some smaller businesses. Good month for: Medicines management services. Pharmacists could cut care home medication errors by 91 per cent if given full responsibility for medicines management, a trial carried out by Midhurst Pharmacy in London suggests. OBad month for: Medicines stocks. The C+D Stock Survey 2010 reveals the extent of shortages problems, with 80 per cent of pharmacists saying getting hold of branded medicines is tougher than ever. Patients fare no better, as C+D receives 42 accounts of patient trauma caused by shortages, ranging from anxiety and distress to hospital admissions. Octc ber The RPSCB may have finally gone the way of the dodo only the previous month but its memory is tarnished almost immediately as October kicks off with a report on its handling of disciplinary cases, a record that experts variously describe as "appalling", "horrendous" and "obscene". The same week, Helen Cordon promises a "very different" leadership body, as C+D puts readers' questions to the new RPS chief. It's a busy month for C+D, as our PCT Investigation reveals "shocking" enhanced service spend variation across the country, and the C+D Conference at the Pharmacy Show hears former health secretary Alan Milburn lambast pharmacy's lack of political clout. Good month for: Mike Holden. The Portsmouth Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative - in the Hampshire & Isle of Wight LPC of which he is chief officer - publishes an interim report detailing its successes, as Mr Holden is named the next chief executive of the NPA. OBad month for: Generic substitution and Avandia. The government ditches plans to allow pharmacists to dispense generics against branded scripts, while the popular rosiglitazone-based type 2 diabetes treatment is withdrawn. Quote of the month, November Quote of the month, December: Lloydspharmacy's Andy Murdock on the need for pharmacy to step up to the plate to realise the potential of the public health white paper This was the year that.... Twitter hit pharmacy 'vim * i in n PSNC chief executive Sue Sharpe 11 i uf C+D first joined micro-blogging site Twitter back in 2009, but 2010 was the year it really became an integral part of how we deliver news and talk to our readers, having amassed almost 800 followers of @chemistdruggist and others through the individual C+D team members' accounts (below). Here's a sample of our year in Tweets: @CandDChris "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti" - Lecter is listing three foods you can't eat if you're on MAOI antidepressants @CandDJennifer Wondering how pharmacy is going to react to a study that says partial relaxation of control of entry has had "significant benefits"... @>ChemistDruggist Sue Sharpe performs a mime of category M on stage. Wish I'd had my camcorder. Marcel Marceau, eat your heart out @CandDChris just going through the blacklist. Drs are not allowed to prescribe Nescafe Instant Coffee or Perrier Mineral water on the NHS.The odd thing is that to appear on the blacklist of products on NHS, those had to be prescribed at some point... @Squeela -1 never thought I would hear the words "Toxic Mega Colon" but I just have. It's almost made my day @GaryParagpuri RPS is promoting its 'support functions' when it should be promoting its 'make a difference' function, /here is the Obama-esque slogan? 'CandDHannah I have just spoken to a pharmacist whose PCT has asked him to go clubbing in a glow-in-the-dark condom, ispect :ind out what it's all about at w.twitter.com/chemistdruggist November Prescription pricing errors are back in the headlines, branded "ludicrous" after PSNC reveals contractors are likely to need further compensation from NHS Prescription Services. Reimbursement and funding also dominates the annual LPC Conference, with contractor representatives calling purchase profit clawbacks "manifestly unfair" and dispensing at a loss "morally indefensible". The conference also sees PSNC launch web- based system PharmaBase for managing and building evidence for enhanced services, and pharmacy minister Earl Howe back a national pharmacy service for people prescribed a medicine for the first time. Good month for: Boots and Asda The former reports a revenue rise of 6 per cent in the first half of this financial year, as the latter opens its 200th pharmacy and announces expansion plans for 2011 OBad month for: The RPS. Almost 900 members are revealed to have quit in the two months since the new leadership body shed its regulatory role (and mandatory membership for pharmacists). December The year goes out with a bang with the publication of England's much-anticipated public health white paper, which praises pharmacy as "a valuable and trusted public health resource". Pharmacy welcomes the policy cautiously, warning that the "warm words" need to be backed by action. Earl Howe also says that pharmacists must be used more to affect the proposals in the year's earlier NHS white paper. Meanwhile, national organisations the NPA, CCA and AIMp promise to represent pharmacy in a stronger, more united way with the formation of Pharmacy Voice, a new organisation to cover their representation functions. Good month for: John D'Arcy. The Rowlands commercial director and one- time NPA chief executive is appointed managing director at sister company Numark, after Tony Mottram steps down. OBad month for: GP-pharmacist relationships. A C+D online poll finds that just 5 per cent of pharmacists have talked to their local practices about CP consortia, and only 7 per cent more have plans to do so. Pharmacy representatives brand the findings "concerning". Taseen Iqbal, Modi's Pharmacy, Dudley "On a personal level, the highlight of my year has been winning the C+D Community Pharmacist of the Year Award 2010. But for pharmacy it's been a hard slog, with services being decommissioned and more category M clawbacks."