By Paul Gimson MRPharmS, Director for Wales, Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Can primary care be improved? What should be the role of local pharmacies in supporting patients with minor ailments? How could out of hours care be improved? How can Government balance meeting local needs and delivering access to healthcare of equal range and quality between the 7 Local Health Board areas?  These were the questions I was asked to address at a conference held in Cardiff today. Read more »

By Paul Gimson, Director for Wales

At this time of year many people’s thoughts, my own included, turn to personal health & fitness, and resolving how to improve it over the forthcoming year. Many of us would have made New Year’s resolution after the overindulgence of Christmas and see the new year as an opportunity for self-improvement. A tempting concept can be that of liver detox, which usually involves some sort of enforced regime of abstinence, dieting and sometimes even taking miracle cures that claim to purge the body of all of evil toxins. Read more »

 By Paul Gimson, Director for Wales

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be representing pharmacists and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society at the conference of the Welsh NHS Confederation  . The Confederation is the body that brings together the organisations that make up the NHS.

First up was the CEO, Helen Birtwhistle.  A few weeks ago, Helen reinforced the message that the NHS will fail  if it continues to do the same thing with less money, to the National Assembly for Wales.  She repeated this again at the conference but this time in front of the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lesley Griffiths, along with a clear message to all politicians that their support will be needed when the difficult decisions have to be made.  It was easy to see the subtext. Read more »

By Paul Gimson, Director for Wales

Those unsure about how far the powers of devolved Governments extend, may want to consider the following:  the Welsh Government  has recently issued a white paper the objective of which is “to increase the number of organ and tissue donors in Wales, allowing more lives to be saved and to improve the quality of life of others.” Read more »