23 new products (including those with multiple flavours) have been added to the ‘Drugs for which Discount is Not Deducted’ (DND) list from 1 April 2026. Community Pharmacy England, on behalf of pharmacy owners, applied to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) for these products to
Read moreMHRA Class 2 Medicines Recall: Rabies, Human normal Immunoglobulin 500IU solution for Injection (Bio Products Laboratory Limited) Drug alert number: EL(26)A/18 Date issued: 30 March 2026 Bio Products Laboratory Limited is recalling one batch of Human Rabies Immunoglobulin following a stability failure for this batch. The batch has shown a reduction in potency of the
Read moreFollowing representations from Community Pharmacy England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has re-determined that the following products will be granted special container status from 1 April 2026. Generic drug name (dm+d descriptor) Brand and/or manufacturer Pack Size Special container Afatinib 20mg tablets Giotrif® 20mg tablets (Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd) 28 tablet
Read moreThe Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has today (27/03/2026) confirmed the following list of price concessions for March 2026: Please note: Community Pharmacy England has submitted price concession applications for a number of other medicines affected by pricing issues this month. We will issue further updates as soon as we hear back from the
Read moreThe Drug Tariff Preface published monthly, lists additions, deletions and other changes to products listed in the Drug Tariff. Below is a summary of the changes coming into effect from 1 April 2026. Key g Special container – This product is a special container and should be dispensed in its complete original pack size. n Item requiring reconstitution
Read moreNote: This article was first published in The Pharmaceutical Journal. By Dr. James Davies, Director of Research and Insights at Community Pharmacy England Every day across England, community pharmacy teams are doing extraordinary work under extraordinary pressures. Across the sector, we’re seeing growing workloads, overwhelming medicine supply and pricing issues, and the increasing challenge of
Read moreMHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Apixaban 2.5mg and 5mg tablets (Sandoz Limited) Drug alert number: EL(26)A/17 Date issued: 26 March 2026 Sandoz Ltd. have informed the MHRA that the Patient Information Leaflet included in specified batches of Apixaban does not contain up‑to‑date information. DMRC reference number: DMRC-38614094 Marketing Authorisation Holder: Sandoz Limited Medicine Details Product
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NHS England has issued an operational briefing via its regions to all pharmacies and general practices providing an update on the Meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent and announcing the waiving of NHS prescription charges for prophylactic oral Ciprofloxacin prescriptions issued to patients in relation to the outbreak. Prescribers in general practices have been asked to
Read moreMHRA Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets (Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited) Drug alert number: EL(26)A/16 Date issued: 26 March 2026 Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited have informed the MHRA that their parallel imported packs of Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets have been printed with the incorrect barcode/GTIN on the carton. DMRC
Read moreRegular occurrences of abuse against community pharmacy teams are making their working life increasingly difficult, and at times dangerous, new research from Community Pharmacy England has demonstrated. A recent survey of more than 3,000 pharmacy premises found that: More than half (55%) of pharmacies had experienced verbal abuse in the preceding six months, with three-quarters
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