NEWS Professor Alison Strath
NEW CHIEF PHARMACEUTICAL OFFICER ANNOUNCED
Professor Alison Strath has been confirmed as the Scottish Government’s new Chief Pharmaceutical Officer (CPO).
Professor Strath has been working within the Scottish Government since 2002, initially as Principal Pharmaceutical Officer and, since October 2020, as interim Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. She was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 2010 and as an Emeritus Professor at the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen in 2018.
Royal Pharmaceutical Director for Scotland, Clare Morrison, has congratulated Professor Strath on her appointment.
‘Alison has been a fantastic leader of the profession through the pandemic,’ Clare said, ‘And for many years before, and I am delighted that she has been appointed to the role of Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. She is the perfect choice to further develop the role of pharmacists and to ensure that pharmacy is at the forefront of healthcare. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her and her team.’
DRUGS: EXPERTISE AND FINANCE NEEDED SAY RPS
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scotland (RPS) is calling on the Scottish Government, pharmacy organisations, contractors and members of the profession to work together to reduce harm from drugs and improve the health of people who use drugs.
Annual drug death data in Scotland shows that there were 1,339 drug deaths last year - an increase of 75 from the 1,264 recorded the previous year.
‘It’s concerning that drug-related deaths and hospital admissions continue to rise in Scotland,’ said Laura Wilson, RPS Scotland Policy and Practice Lead. ‘Many of these deaths are preventable. Pharmacists, and pharmacy teams, already play a big role in supporting and providing treatment to people who use drugs, as well as offering harm reduction services and advice. The RPS wants to build on this fantastic work by enabling them to do even more to reduce harm from drugs.’
In June, RPS Scotland published a policy document on pharmacy’s role in reducing drug harms and preventing drug deaths. The report made fourteen recommendations including: • Naloxone must be available from every community pharmacy and staff trained to use it.
• All pharmacists should have access to shared patient records and clear communication pathways with other health care professionals involved in the care of people who use drugs.
• Regulated Supervised Drug Consumption Rooms (SDCRs) should be introduced and use of Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) should be expanded as treatment options with pharmacy input from the start.
FREE FLU VACCINE FOR MORE PEOPLE
More people than ever in Scotland will be offered the free flu vaccine to help protect as many lives as possible this winter.
Those people eligible for the free flu vaccine now include: those aged 50 and over; those aged six months to 49 years with certain underlying health conditions, which increase risk; and pregnant women.
‘The public health measures put in place to help fight against COVID-19 meant that the circulation of flu viruses was very low last season,’ said Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nicola Steedman. ‘As restrictions continue to lift and we get back to living our lives more normally it is important this year, more than ever, that people receive their flu vaccine if eligible, and before flu starts to spread widely.
‘The JCVI has also published interim advice on providing a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to those eligible in the autumn. Any such extension to the vaccine programme would run alongside the vital flu programme, to protect those at risk from flu this winter. We will take this into account while we await the final JCVI recommendations. But we urge people not to forget about flu, and to come forward for their flu vaccination this year.’
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