Hello and happy New Year from the Journal of Prescribing Practice. As always, when writing a new year editorial, it's important to look to the year ahead and envision what we might encounter. While COVID-19 looms quietly around corners of the news, it's no longer at the forefront. Now we have new unprecedented concerns to confront. I'm writing this on the 16th December, and as I do, we've already had one strike on the 15th, with another to follow on the 20th, as the government continues to refuse to negotiate with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The RCN has urged its members to strike unless they have seen evidence that the RCN have agreed to an exemption from strike action (RCN, 2022). As of right now, the RCN is threatening more strikes in January if negotiations do not begin to gain positive momentum. Long have the struggles of our current economic climate plagued healthcare professionals, and now, amid a flurry of strikes across the UK, many of you are choosing this as the time to act and demand better, and frankly, what you more than deserve. The journal stands behind you.
Of course, this isn't the only development affecting the non-medical prescribing world in the run-up to the new year. I'm sure many of you have heard of, and many more been affected by, the recent shortage of antibiotics. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies has said the situation is ‘unacceptable’. With the looming presence of strep A currently an ongoing concern, this shortage must be deemed unacceptable and dangerous. I'm sure many of our pharmacist readers are working around the clock to try and find solutions. According to a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson, manufacturers currently have supplies of antibiotics to treat strep A and are working to get them to pharmacies.
‘We continue to work urgently with manufacturers and wholesalers to expedite deliveries, bring forward stock they have to help ensure it gets to where it's needed, and boost supply to meet demand as quickly as possible,’ they said (BBC News, 2022).
At present, doctors have been advised that they can now prescribe alternative forms of penicillin directly to the patient to help treat strep A infections, amid the ongoing supply issues.
There are no doubt fresh challenges that lie ahead of us in 2023, but over my time with the journal thus far, I have seen non-medical prescribers flourish despite the toughest of conditions. In 2022, it was impossible not to notice all the newly qualified non-medical prescribers among you contacting the journal for the first time with new ideas and potential submissions, showing me that this corner of healthcare is never not hard-working and growing! We look forward to continuing to support new and experienced ptrescribers alike.
As we now enter into 2023, what better time than to take a look at the current literature that supports your work and studies? This month's literature report by Amanda Armstrong should be the perfect beginning to your new year of non-medical prescribing.
As always, we love to hear from you here at the journal, so if you have new ideas for a paper contribution or simply want to share some news of your journey, please do get in touch.