In this week’s pod: good week for pharmacists and end-of-life care, Medicine Box, Superdrug and pharmacy technicians. Bad week for patient safety reporting, pharmacy closures in deprived areas, prescription charges and Matty H. Plus community pharmacists’ role in antimicrobial stewardship and hopes dashed of the pubs opening in Cardiff for Wales vs England. Shame.

In this Category Insight podcast we look at men’s health and the sensitive subject of erection problems. Pharmacy Magazine editor Richard Thomas talks to Martin Tod, chief executive of the Men’s Health Forum, Ade Williams, award winning pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol and Rob Elliott, Viatris marketing director, manufacturer of Viagra Connect, about the physical and psychological impact of erection problems and pharmacy’s role in the management of this condition. Subjects discussed include the links to cardiovascular disease, consultation tips and the “Time to Raise It” campaign, as well as community pharmacy’s wider role in dealing more effectively with men’s health issues.

Learning update: Men's health & erection problems

https://www.pharmacymagazine.co.uk/men-suffering-in-silence

Viagra Connect interactive training

https://www.pharmacymagazine.co.uk/viagraconnect-patient-consultations

Category review: Getting through to men

https://www.pharmacymagazine.co.uk/getting-through

CPD module: Erectile dysfunction

https://www.pharmacymagazine.co.uk/erectile-dysfunction

Time to Raise It report, Men's Health Forum

https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/time-raise-it-report

Essential information: Viagra Connect

https://hcp.viagraconnect.co.uk/sites/default/files/2018-02/Essential%20Information%20for%20Supply%20of%20Viagra%20Connect_0.pdf

In this week’s pod: good week for widening oral contraceptive access, antimicrobial stewardship and pharmacists jabbing away on the Covid frontline. Bad week for LloydsPharmacy, strike action talk and pharmacy bodies missing a trick over Boris Johnson’s wish to see pharmacists reimbursed for Covid costs as soon as possible – or three billboards (and a few buses) outside the Palace of Westminster…

Good Week Bad Week returns – the prov-reg fiasco, vaccinations and a major consumer survey looking at pharmacy advice all feature. Plus contractors face a huge hit over methadone fees, Simon Dukes talks tough and the PDA invokes the Dunkirk spirit. Plus why the month of February is an infrequent source of neat nerdy joy...

In the latest in our In Conversion With podcast series we talk to Community Pharmacy Scotland chief executive Harry McQuillan about how pharmacy teams in Scotland have stepped up to the challenges of Covid, why independent prescribing is reengineering the clinical role of community pharmacy north of the border and what’s the secret behind the constructive relationship that the sector enjoys with the Scottish Government.

Covid vaccination looms large this week. Hurrah for Ashburton Prescribing Consultants; boo for the postcode lottery and professional co-operation in Hampshire. The CIG editors applaud awareness campaigns and payment for deliveries in Scotland, but have concerns about the operation of the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service. In the interview slot, Community Pharmacy Scotland chief executive Harry McQuillan tells Richard Thomas about the sector’s response to the pandemic and building relationships with Government. And there’s a shout out for this week’s launch of the only national awards scheme exclusively for community pharmacy team members - Training Matters’ Recognition of Excellence Awards 2021.

Good Week Bad Week is back in this week's podcast – POM to GSL switches, Pharmacy2U, Nadhim Zahawi, Professor Sir Roy Anderson, abuse of pharmacy staff and abolition of the tampon tax all feature. Plus not being wise in our own eyes (literally) and fuming over pavement joggers spewing their spittle.

This week's podcast discusses community pharmacy's role in the Covid vaccination drive. Will the sector play a major part in the biggest immunisation programme in the history of the NHS, or not? Plus the CIG editors reveal their new year's resolutions and hopes for pharmacy in 2021.

In a special edition of the Talking Pharmacy podcast, the CIG editors look back at the events of 2020 in pharmacy and select the stories and interviews that stood out for them in a dramatic and difficult year. Coronavirus dominated the news agenda but plenty of other issues also grabbed the headlines in a year that saw the very best of community pharmacy. Here's to a better, safer, less eventful 2021!

It's the Talking Pharmacy podcast Christmas special! The CIG editors get together over minced pies and mulled wine to award Christmas cracker prizes to the Pharmacy Person of the Year, Pharmacy Organisation of the Year, Biggest Disappointment of the Year and Sentence That We Never Want To Write Again in 2021. Plus pharmacy pun-tastic Christmas carols and seasonal messages from friends of the pod – something to lift the spirits after a difficult year. Happy Christmas!