Community pharmacy contractors have been reminded to complete the Pharmacy Quality Scheme (PQS) Part 2 for their 2020-21 work until June 30, 2021.NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) and the Department of Health and Social Care were requested by the pharmacy negotiator, PSNC, for more "flexible timings" for completion of the PQS work earlier so contractors had enough time to submit their claims.Contractors will need to collate the evidence to demonstrate that they were compliant with the requirements in the domains they declared as having met in their PQS Part 2 2020/21 declaration between February 1 and March 1 2021.
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1 in 7 NHS staff experienced physical violence from patients, their relatives or the public in 2024
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Attacks on NHS staff surge, discrimination at highest levels - survey finds
Mar 15, 2025
Workplace discrimination has reached its highest level in five years, with 9.25% of staff reporting experiences of discrimination, according to the latest annual NHS staff survey.
More than half (54.09%) of those affected said the discrimination they received from patients and the public was based on their ethnic background.
Violence against NHS workers has also surged, with one in seven staff members (14.38%) experiencing physical attacks from patients, their relatives, or the public in 2024.
This marks an increase of over 13% from 2023, though numbers remain below record levels seen during and after the pandemic (2020–2022).
Additionally, 1 in 12 NHS workers reported experiencing unwanted sexual behaviour—including offensive comments, touching, and assault.
The proportion of staff affected was similar to the level reported in 2023 (8.79%) when the question was first included in the survey.
Dr Navina Evans, chief workforce, training and education officer for NHS England, expressed concern over the findings, stating:
“It’s totally unacceptable that NHS staff are facing physical violence, sexual assault and discrimination from patients and the public while at work.”
She urged anyone affected to report incidents to their employer and the police.
Dr Evans emphasised that the most important way to stamp out incidents of unacceptable behaviour is “to give people the confidence to report it.”
She underscored that “the voice of every member of NHS staff is heard through these surveys and acted upon.”
Dr Evans noted that every integrated care board and NHS trust in England has signed up to the NHS sexual safety charter to enforce a zero-tolerance approach to letting unwanted behaviours go unaddressed within the workplace.
A separate national education and training survey found that 13% of learners had experienced or witnessed unwanted, harmful or inappropriate sexual behaviour from patients.
The 2024 NHS staff survey saw record participation, with 744,358 respondents—the highest in its 20-year history—while over 43,500 took part in the national education and training survey.
Despite concerns over discrimination and workplace safety, the survey highlighted positive trends in staff satisfaction.
The number of NHS workers satisfied with flexible working options reached its highest level in five years (57.65%), and staff achieving a good work-life balance also peaked at 56.61%—the highest since the question was introduced in 2021.
Moreover, staff satisfaction with pay has improved, rising from 25.48% in 2022 to 32.05% in 2024.
Satisfaction with line managers continues to grow, with 7 in 10 workers (72.72%) saying they feel valued at work.
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Man jailed for robbing pharmacy at knifepoint
Mar 15, 2025
A man who robbed a pharmacy in Winterbourne last year at knifepoint has been sentenced to prison.
Daniel Bennett, 41 of Wedmore Vale in Bedminster, was jailed for six years and nine months, with an extended three-year licence period, after pleading guilty to robbery and possession of a bladed article.
Bristol Crown Court heard that Bennett entered the pharmacy in Winterbourne on 8 August last year armed with a knife and forced staff to the rear of the store, threatening to harm them unless they handed over medication.
After obtaining the drugs, he fled in a car driven by Natasha O’Driscoll, 34, of Old Gloucester Road, Winterbourne. A child was also in the vehicle, leaning out of the passenger window.
O’Driscoll pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and neglect of a child under 16. She was sentenced to a 12-month community order and fined.
Avon and Somerset Police responded swiftly and stopped O’Driscoll. They found a large amount of prescription drugs in her car, but Bennett was not with her.
Following further enquiries, officers found him in a nearby pub car park, still in possession of a knife and prescription drugs.
While none of the pharmacy staff were physically harmed, they were "understandably shaken by what happened", according to a statement from the police.
One of the victims who managed to escape and alert the police described the traumatic experience.
“I was on my lunch break when I heard the commotion,” the victim recalled.
“I grabbed my bag and phone and walked behind the guy who was holding my colleagues at knifepoint. I made it out and called the police.”
“I stayed in work until the following Thursday but I had to take time off work due to lack of sleep, because I was getting flashbacks to what happened.
“This is not something any of us will be able to get over. We feel unsafe and I will always be looking over my shoulder.”
DC Craig Bennett, the investigating officer, described Bennett’s actions that day were “reckless and dangerous.”
“He appeared to give no thought for how his behaviour would harm those around him, he was focused on stealing those prescription drugs for his own benefit,” he said.
“The victims have been left feeling vulnerable and fearful following the incident and I have to commend them for the strength they have shown in supporting our investigation.
“O’Driscoll acted as the getaway driver for Bennett’s scheme, but she not only endangered her own life, but also that of a child’s,” he added.
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Abolition of NHS England – an opportunity for change, says Numark
Mar 15, 2025
Numark has welcomed prime minister Keir Starmer’s decision to abolish NHS England but emphasised the need to ensure community pharmacy is not overlooked in the restructuring.
Harry McQuillan, chairman of Numark, described the announcement as “a bold move” that signals a desire to put the NHS "back at the heart of government where it belongs.”
Health secretary Wes Streeting told the parliament on Thursday that NHS England will be brought into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) entirely over the next two years.
He pointed to Lord Darzi’s report and its critique of top-down management as a key driver for this decision.
While Harry “wholeheartedly agrees,” with this assessment, he highlighted that Darzi also “championed one of the NHS’s greatest assets, community pharmacy, particularly in reaching and supporting our most deprived communities.”
He expressed frustration over the NHSE’s reluctance to “recognise the full potential of pharmacy teams, particularly in prescribing.”
One such example, he noted, was the failure to update the 2024-2025 flu vaccination service specification to allow trained pharmacy technicians to vaccinate when no pharmacist was available.
“These are missed opportunities that impact patient care,” he said.
Harry argued that NHSE has often struggled to understand community pharmacy’s role in protecting public health, insisting that “this must change.”
He also voiced disappointment that the government continues to exclude community pharmacy from major healthcare decisions and funding allocations.
“The prime minister has stated that the money saved from this restructure should be invested in nurses, doctors, and GP appointments, yet once again, community pharmacy is missing from the conversation,” Harry said, adding “That cannot continue.”
Is this move away from arms-length bodies a good thing?
Harry said: “Potentially, yes. But only if it results in meaningful engagement with those on the frontline, healthcare professionals who, day in and day out, ensure patients get the care they need.”
“For too long, pharmacy has been overlooked, underfunded, and undervalued.”
“This is a pivotal moment to change that,” he continued, urging the government to seize this opportunity to “fully integrate and invest in the sector that has proven time and again its ability to deliver.”
Harry added that Numark, with its 5700 community pharmacy members, is ideally placed to improve public health through the delivery of care services, provided it receives “the necessary additional funding to support that transformation.”
Community pharmacy is key to a primary care of the future that focuses on prevention
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Sadik-Al-Hassan: National pharmacy prescribing service “entirely possible”
Mar 14, 2025
A national prescribing service for pharmacists could in theory be developed in the next two-three years according to Sadik-Al-Hassan MP.
Speaking at an event organised by PharmaTech in parliament on Wednesday, Hassan said community pharmacists had the skillset to prescribe but a national service would be “limited” by what they are currently allowed to do.
“If a community pharmacy sees an error on a prescription, they will have to phone up the prescriber and ask for a new prescription even though the pharmacist already knows what is wrong and what should be right - this leads to the question of the natural boundary of the profession,” said Hassan.
“The delivery of a national pharmacy-based prescribing service, I believe is entirely possible, I believe it's deliverable, but I believe it's limited now by what we do currently and it shouldn't be.”
As a pharmacist himself, Hassan is aware that community pharmacies have the capability to play integral role in primary care.
“A pharmacy prescribing service could include prescribing decisions based on somebody's genome. The tech isn't that far away,” he said.
“We could actually have testing and understanding of pharmacogenomics, which means prescribing based on somebody's genetic profile.
“We will know which blood pressure medication is actually better than just knowing that your characteristics say a certain medicine will be best in that situation.”
Hassan urged pharmacies to embrace services rather than continuing to spend the majority of their time checking prescriptions and dispensing medicine.
With a team that’s often made up pharmacists, advanced clinical pharmacist, pharmacy technicians, and trainees/apprentices, Hassan believes community pharmacies have a duty to utilise the expertise and upskill their workforce.
“We need to seize the opportunity of the work that's available to us, that's sitting in backlogs of secondary care, that's sitting in new services, that's sitting in new ways to help patients,” he said.
“But all the while we need to have our eye on where pharmacy sits as a profession. Where are our professional boundaries? Where do we add value? And we have to be careful that isn't in the gaps of other people's professions, where we spread ourselves a little too thin.”
Santosh Sahu
Santosh Sahu, founder and CEO of Charac: The Pharmacy App, told attendees that an adequality funded community pharmacy sector had the capability to take the pressure of GPs.
“There are about 350 to 400 million appointments in the primary care network, 80 million of these appointments are about, ‘I don't know what's wrong with me’ (minor ailments),” he said.
“Imagine there is adequate funding and the right technology pathways between the primary care and pharmacies, 80 million of these appointments can be directed to the community pharmacy and it can release time in the GP surgeries where they can attend to people who most require their attention.”
Sahu added: “Pharmacists need technology to free their time so that they can get their head up and think like a business person to do other services. Is government and NHS doing enough for them to do this?”
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Kym Marsh speaking about her journey to quitting smoking as part of the NHS No Smoking Day campaign.
Photo credit: Better Health
TV star Kym Marsh joins NHS ‘No Smoking Day’ campaign
Mar 12, 2025
TV star, singer, and actor Kym Marsh has teamed up with the NHS for a powerful new campaign, urging the UK’s six million smokers to make a quit attempt this No Smoking Day (12 March).
In a touching new film, the former Coronation Street star opens up about her journey to breaking free from smoking—an addiction that once dictated her daily routine.
“Quitting smoking is not simply about breaking a habit; it’s about reclaiming control over your life, health and the future you share with your loved ones,” said Kym, who started smoking as a teenager but successfully quit several years ago.
Encouraging others to kick the habit for good, she said: “The decision to quit is one of the most empowering choices you can make.”
“It's not an easy journey but knowing that your decision benefits both your own well-being and the health of those around you, particularly your family, makes it all the more worthwhile”
The campaign also features other ex-smokers, including cancer survivor Sue Mountain, who delivers a heartfelt plea to smokers.
“Don’t wait for a wake-up call - make today the day you quit for good. I don’t want one person going through what I did.”
“You can’t ever stop trying to quit because smoking will catch up with you sooner or later. You’ve got to keep trying to stop. It’s worth it!” she added.
The campaign coincides with the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament. The world-leading bill includes measures to create the first smokefree generation, phasing out the sale of tobacco products across the UK to those aged 16 and under this year.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
The Impact of Smoking
Ashley Dalton, minister for public health and prevention, highlighted that smoking remains the UK's biggest preventable cause of death, claiming around 80,000 lives every year - equivalent to 220 people every day.
Dalton, who quit smoking after receiving a cancer diagnosis, shared her personal experience:“I know firsthand how challenging it can be to break free from nicotine addiction.”
“But I also know that it's possible, and the health benefits begin from day one - adding years to your life and putting money back in your pocket.”
Dalton assured smokers that no matter how long they’ve been smoking—whether for days or decades, “it's never too late to quit and transform your health.”
As part of the ‘No Smoking Day’ campaign, new NHS research reveals that 43% of smokers think the addiction prevents them from fully embracing life.
The main reasons cited include spending too much money on smoking (39%); feeling less fit (31%) and being self-conscious due to smelling of smoke (29%).
Just under half (43%) of smokers admit they’ve missed out on time with friends and family due to smoking.
Additionally, 77% of smokers admit their physical health has taken a serious hit, a sentiment shared by 73% of ex-smokers.
Benefits of Quitting
Not only quitting smoking can save your life, but it also offers significant financial benefits.
Health improvements begin almost immediately after quitting:
- Within 72 hours, breathing becomes easier, and energy levels increase
- After 12 weeks, blood circulation improves
- After one year, the risk of heart attack is halved compared to that of a smoker.
NHS estimates that the average smoker can save approximately £48 per week by quitting smoking —amounting to nearly £2,500 annually
In the NHS study, 65% of ex-smokers said quitting helped them save money while 50% reported having more disposable income.
Those who quit smoking also reported feeling proud of themselves (49%) and improved sense of taste and smell (40%).
NHS Support to Quit
NHS offers various services to help smokers quit, including the NHS Quit Smoking app and a Personal Quit Plan.
To further support smokers, the government has pledged an additional £70 million for stop-smoking services in England for 2025 and 2026.
Additionally, the Swap to Stop scheme provides free vapes to help smokers quit, though the NHS advises that vapes should only be used as a cessation aid for adults—not by children or non-smokers.
NHS doctor and TV personality Dr Emeka Okorocha, warned that smoking causes one in four of all cancer deaths in England.
“It’s never too late to quit smoking and there’s help available for those looking to stop smoking,” she said, urging smokers to take the decision today.
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