The PJ Pod

In this episode, Caitlin Killen, assistant clinical editor, and Alex Clabburn, senior editor, enlist the help of two experts to explore what the rise in immunotherapy treatment means for the ongoing care of cancer patients.

Many thanks to Dharmisha Chauhan, lead genomic clinical pharmacist for North Thames Genomic Medicine Service Alliance and specialist oncology pharmacist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, and Stuart Evans, cancer pharmacist at South West Wales Cancer Centre at Singleton Hospital and Swansea Bay University Health Board for their expertise.

For a list of related immunotherapy resources and links to the research mentioned in the podcast visit the PJ website: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/feature/immune-related-cancer-toxicities-what-pharmacists-need-to-know

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh and was supported by Merck.

In this episode, assistant clinical editor Caitlin Killen, looks at the practical implications of a recent update to NICE guidance on diabetes treatment in adults, with the help of two experts.

Many thanks to Michelle Lam, pharmacy team leader for education & training at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Sallianne Kavanagh, an advanced clinical pharmacist at Sheffield Teaching Hospital and clinical lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, for their expertise.

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

Here is a link to the NICE guideline: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28

Click here for a list of related diabetes resources from the PJ: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/feature/updated-nice-guidance-for-type-2-diabetes-what-do-you-need-to-know

What if you could pop into your local pharmacy to get tested for how your genes affect the way you metabolise drugs, such as statins or antidepressants? In several countries, you can.

Features editor Dawn Connelly travels to those countries and speaks with community pharmacists that are already providing this routinely. She starts by visiting the Netherlands, where she talks to Fleur van Gelder and Jesse Swen about their pharmacogenomics testing service, and gets to experience it for herself.

She then speaks with community pharmacists Fabio de Rango, in Canada, and Nami Nagar, in Australia, about what testing they provide and how it has enhanced their relationships with both patients and GPs.

Finally, Connelly returns to the UK to assess when community pharmacies here might get to provide such a service. She speaks with Munir Pirmohamed, NHS chair in pharmacogenetics, who advises the health service, and breaks some exclusive news about one UK pharmacy chain.

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

Which combination is most effective? Should I take this with food? The public often ask for advice on how to treat acute pain conditions, such as headaches, period pain or soft tissue injuries.

At first glance, it may seem straightforward; however, there are some common misconceptions around the changing evidence in this area.

In this episode, Caitlin Killen, assistant clinical editor, and Nigel Praities, executive editor, debunk some of these myths, and ask two experts to give the science on how acute pain should be treated.

Many thanks to Yousaf Ahmad, chief pharmacist at Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care System and co-chair of the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association Pain Committee, and Dominic Aldington, pain consultant and clinical lead for pain management at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust, for their expertise.

This episode is supported by Reckitt and was produced by Geoff Marsh.

Cochrane review on OTC oral analgesics for acute pain: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010794.pub2/full

Learning resources on acute pain: https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/learning/acute-pain/all

In this episode, Carolyn Wickware, investigations editor, looks at the emerging evidence that UK rivers are becoming a dangerous ‘breeding ground’ for bacteria resistant to antibiotics that could adversely affect human health.

Alistair Boxall, professor of environmental science at the University of York, describes his concerns over the level of antibiotics that he has measured in our water system, and Jason Snape, global head of environment at AstraZeneca, gives the pharmaceutical industry perspective on the issue.

Sharon Pfleger, a consultant in pharmaceutical public health at NHS Highland and professor at Robert Gordon University, also describes her work looking at how to remove traces of drugs from hospital waste water, which is being funded by the Scottish government.

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

There have been claims that COVID-19 oral antivirals, such as molnupiravir and Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir), will “change the course of the pandemic”.

But with limited supply, a short treatment window and only a few patient groups eligible to receive them — can these drugs really turn things around?

In this episode, Dawn Connelly, features editor, and Julia Robinson, clinical and science editor, answer questions from PJ readers on how they will be used in practice.

They are joined by Penny Ward, visiting professor in pharmaceutical medicine at King’s College London, and Fiona Marra, a consultant infectious disease pharmacist based in Scotland.

Thank you to Rob Ardley, Nicola Vasey, Umeh Ali and Gareth Malson for their questions. This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

In this episode, we explore the arguments for and against the planned introduction of degree apprenticeships as an alternative for the traditional MPharm degree in England.

Reporter Corrinne Burns speaks with Mark Koziol, chair of the Pharmacists’ Defence Association, who is sceptical about the benefits for future pharmacists.

Exploring the other side of the argument, Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, explains how degree apprenticeships could become a debt-free access route into pharmacy.

Finally, a group of just-qualified and future pharmacists give their views on whether their younger selves would have been attracted to a degree apprenticeship.

Many thanks to Osayuki Igbinoba, Vivien Yu, Adam Ismail and Aman Sehdev for speaking to us about this topic. This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

In our last PJ Pod of the year, we eat some mince pies and ruminate over what has been a momentous 12 months in the history of the pharmacy profession.

We also stake our journalistic reputations on some predictions of what might be the big news for pharmacists in 2022. Should pharmacists in the NHS be preparing for industrial action over pay? What will health secretary Sajid Javid's next move be? Will degree apprenticeships be introduced in pharmacy? Are COVID-19 antivirals really what they cracked up to be?

Hosting this episode is executive editor Nigel Praities, who is joined by the lateral flow-confirmed COVID-19 negative PJ team, including Julia Robinson, clinical and science editor, Carolyn Wickware, deputy news editor, Corrinne Burns, RPS correspondent and Angela Kam, senior research and learning editor.

The episode was produced by Geoff Marsh.

Over the past few years, pharmacy student Adanna Anthony-Okeke has been leading a project to "decolonise" the curriculum at the University of Nottingham’s school of pharmacy.

In this episode, we speak to her and MPharm course leader Helen Boardman about how this work has led to significant and ongoing change to the syllabus.

Clinical and science editor, Julia Robinson, also investigates the progress being made in universities across the UK to make the pharmacy degree more inclusive.

Robinson also speaks to Vini Lander, director of the centre for race education and decoloniality at Leeds Beckett University, to find out what decolonisation means within the context of the healthcare sciences and where this movement might be heading in the future.

Click here for links to learning resources supporting skin equality referred to in the podcast: https://tinyurl.com/equalskinrecs and https://tinyurl.com/equalskinrecs2

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh and supported by Reckitt. The Pharmaceutical Journal retained editorial responsibility at all times.

Stomach acid-suppressing medicine ranitidine disappeared from pharmacy shelves two years ago, owing to fears of contamination with probable human carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA).

In this episode, features editor Dawn Connelly finds out why.

She speaks with David Light, chief executive officer of Valisure, the online pharmacy that first identified the contamination in ranitidine, and Michael White, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut, about the implications for other similar medicines.

Connelly also assesses evidence ranitidine could be about to make a comeback and discusses the problems of switching to alternative treatments with Mikin Patel, lead pharmacist in gastroenterology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, and Alisdair Jones, a primary care network pharmacist in Folkestone, Kent.

This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh and additional research was carried out by Emma Wilkinson.