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Labour Party leader Keir Starmer leader has tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday (January 5).
Starmer had been due to face prime minister Boris Johnson at a question and answer session in parliament later today. His deputy, Angela Rayner, will take his place, the spokesperson added.
Starmer had tested positive for Covid-19 last October and self-isolated four times after coming into contact with other positive cases on several occasions.
A report by the Royal College of Physicians claims that air pollution was causing harm to almost every organ of the body.
Doctors warn that around 99 per cent of the population in the UK are breathing "toxic air", and around 30,000 deaths will be linked to air pollution in 2025.
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) claimed in a report that air pollution was causing harm to almost every organ of the body, and shortening life by 1.8 years on average.
It said there is "no safe level" of air pollutants, and even exposure to low concentrations can be harmful.
The report highlighted studies providing new information about the significant health dangers of toxic air, including foetal development and risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, mental health conditions and dementia.
The RCP noted that the threat air pollution posed to public health was greater than previously understood.
It costs £27 billion a year in healthcare costs and productivity losses, and the figure could even be higher – up to £50bn – if wider impacts such as dementia were taken into account.
The report called for action from the government to tackle the crisis and treat air pollution as a key public health issue.
In the forward of the report, England's chief medical officer, professor Chris Whitty noted that though the UK has made progress in the last three decades by reducing some pollutants, air pollution "remains a major cause of chronic ill health as well as premature mortality".
He observed that further progress in combating outdoor air pollution will not happen "without practical and achievable changes to heating, transport and industry".
"Air pollution affects everybody, and is everybody's business," he said.
RCP president Dr Mumtaz Patel noted that air pollution was no longer an environmental issue, but a public health crisis.
"We are losing tens of thousands of lives every year to something that is mostly preventable and the financial cost is a price we simply cannot afford to keep paying.
"We need to treat clean air with the same seriousness we treat clean water or safe food. It is a basic human right - and a vital investment in our economic future," she said.
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The last date for submission is 30 June 2025.
More than 50 per cent of the community pharmacies in England have failed to complete their Data Security and Protection Toolkit 2025 with the deadline in less than two weeks.
Necessary guidance regarding the toolkit has previously been provided by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) earlier.
The toolkit is used by pharmacists to complete information governance (IG) declaration. The last date for submission is 30 June 2025.
CPE in association with NHS DSPTK is managing the toolkit and necessary data security protections.
There is an on-demand webinar produced by CPE and NHS DSPTK. It discusses the latest MFA elements, new changes in the toolkit and interaction with delegates to provide guidance material and question answers.
The NHS Parent Organisation Code (POC) headquarters (HQ) batch submission feature continues to allow pharmacy owners with three or more premises to complete a single, consolidated submission for all their pharmacies.
Most pharmacy teams should have access to information to answer the technical questions in the toolkit.
Pharmacies with refreshed and updated templates in CPE’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) workbook will meet the requirements for almost half of the toolkit question by just typing or pasting ‘see GDPR WB’ into the questions.
All the necessary guidance materials, including the updated multi-factor authentication guidance are published.
Also, pharmacy owners with multiple pharmacies are requested to cross-check their pharmacy lists with their NHS POC code to guarantee accuracy and chance for error rectification.
Therefore, the pharmacy owners are urged to utilize the guidance and fulfil the requirements at the earliest.
In the UK, over three million people have osteoporosis.
The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) has launched a free online service called BoneMed which is aimed to support patients with osteoporosis in taking their medicine and remove barriers to adherence.
After completing a five-minute online survey, patients will be emailed a summary of the medicine they have been prescribed and six further updates throughout the year on their medication.
The emails will contain information on the reason they have been prescribed the medication, the method to consume it, possible side effects and ways to fit in taking the medicine in their daily routine.
A digital support pack in the ROS website explains the service along with its advantages and FAQs.
Patients will be informed about the free service either during their New Medicine Service (NMS) consultation or while receiving their osteoporosis medicines.
In the UK, over three million people have osteoporosis, with more than 500,000 fragility fractures occurring annually. Osteoporosis significantly impacts healthcare costs, estimated at £4.4 billion per year due to fractures and related complications.
GPhC's Strategic Plan 2025-30 will focus on empowering pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) launched its new plan for the next five years to uphold safety, quality and public trust in pharmacy.
The regulatory body unveiled its Strategic Plan 2025-30 during a Parliamentary event attended by pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock on Wednesday (18).
The plan will focus on empowering pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, protecting patients, and building a skilled, agile, and inclusive organisation to carry out our regulatory responsibilities.
GPhC chair Gisela Abbam noted that the role of the pharmacy profession is evolving rapidly.
"This includes pharmacists taking on expanded roles in prescribing medicines, with all newly-qualified pharmacists joining the register as independent prescribers from next year."
She said GPhC's role is crucial in ensuring that "regulation keeps pace with these changes, providing a clear framework that empowers pharmacists and pharmacy technicians and safeguards patient care and public confidence."
GPhC chief executive Duncan Rudkin said the plan was a "honest appraisal of where we are now, where we want to be, and how we’ll know if we have got there."
He said GPhC will soon come out with a delivery plan, "which sets out in more detail the programmes of work we will deliver in order to achieve the strategic aims and outcomes set out in this plan."
The plan document calls for improving its regulatory performance, and notes that pharmacists see GPhC's role as 'adversarial' with many "seeing the regulator as a body that is there just to charge them fees and punish them if they fail."
The regulatory body wants to engage "constructively with the pharmacy professions to support development and improvement."
Mark Koziol, chairman of The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA), said, "As a pharmacist-focused organisation with patient safety at its heart, we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the GPhC towards achieving these objectives on behalf of PDA members.”
Welcoming the plan, professor Margaret Ikpoh, vice chair of the Royal College of GPs (RCGP), said, "Community pharmacy, like general practice, is under considerable pressure, so a strategic plan for pharmacy that prioritises collaboration in the best interests of patient care is encouraging to see."
She noted that community pharmacy provides a vital service and has long worked closely with GPs and other primary care professionals to "ensure patients receive safe, timely and appropriate care."
Medical device manufacturers will have to monitor the safety and performance of their products already in use.
Medical device manufacturers must now adhere to the UK's post-market surveillance (PMS) regulations.
The new rule came into effect on June 16, and manufacturers will have to monitor the safety and performance of their products already in use.
The move is part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) broader transformation of the UK’s medical device regulatory framework.
It will apply to all UKCA- and CE-marked devices, such as in-vitro diagnostics (IVDs), glucose monitors, medical implants such as pacemakers and hearing aids, and a range of technologies used across hospitals, clinics, and at home.
Manufacturers will be able to identify potential safety issues and strengthen protection for patients and the public through faster responses.
They will have to ensure that there is an effective system in place to monitor devices after they enter the market, collect comprehensive safety data, report serious incidents, and take swifter action when issues arise.
The timeframe to report serious incidents to MHRA has been reduced to 15 days from 30.
The manufacturers will have to provide PMS Reports or Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSUR) within three days of the request.
This will help the MHRA and industry spot concerns early on and intervene to protect patients.
MHRA chief executive Lawrence Tallon said these new regulations provide a robust framework to protect patients.
"This represents an important milestone in our work in building a modern, responsive regulatory system – one that puts patient safety first, while also supporting innovation in life sciences and medical technologies across the UK," he said.
