Archive for January, 2009

The EU have granted Orlistat a POM-P licence. I’m not sure when it will be available but it looks like it will be like the Imigam and Levonelle switches where consultation is documented to ensure suitability is checked prior to supply.

For more information click on the link below

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7843061.stm

January and February have always been slow months for locum pharmacists. Employees don’t want to go on holiday in the colder months so less locums are needed to fill gaps in coordinators planners.

However it’s a good time to look at your business. Many locums forget that they run a business but just like any business, customers will always be loyal to those who have provided them with a good service.

As a way of focusing locums on the service they provide, we will be running a ten day “Top Tips” for locums starting next Monday. I hope you find it helpful and would welcome feedback from interested parties

As a business owner I am always joining new networks to enable me to make new contacts which will (hopefully) lead to new business.

One thing that strikes me is the lack of pharmacists, particularly locum pharmacists on these networks. One of the things that professions need to do is stick together to create an organisation that has some negotiating power. The RPSGB isn’t exactly in favour at the moment which doesn’t surprise me as they seem to do little for individual pharmacists but the lack of pharmacist focused “groups” or “connections” on Linked In, Twitter and Facebook concerns me more. Why aren’t there such groupings on the social networking sites? It can;’t be that the profession are all technophobes, after all we work on computers all day. Is it the lack of advantage that comes from Networking in an increasingly employed profession (If not locuming) – this is a possibility or maybe it’s because traditionally we haven’t been very good at networking, even with other health professions after all, how often do you meet with Doctors, Nurses, Physios to discuss current issues?

Not very often if at all is your answer I bet.

Social Networking sites like Linked In, Twitter and Facebook can be really useful ways of talking to fellow pharmacists and other health professionals in a “safe” low time intensive way. Go on give it a go. Links below

www.linkedin.com
www.facebook.com
www.twitter.com

Shaun is a Director of PL-UK Recruitment Ltd – a respected provider of pharmacy jobs, both permanent and locum

At PL-UK we are passionate about providing both our locum and permanent candidates and also our clients with the best service around. We are equally keen to take advantage of all the new technologies that seem to come on stream every year.

That is why we have launched our new website to take advantage of the latest advances in visitor interaction, including blogs, polls and daily news feeds. Working as both a locum and employed pharmacist can be a lonely life at times and the aim of the new site is to bring a sense of community to the site. Remember their are 46,000 pharmacists out there so you’re not on your own.

If we post a entry on the blog that you disagree with please post a comment to tell us why as we’d love to hear from you. Equally if there’s something you would like adding to the site please let us know. The new format makes the site very flexible and we can react to comments very quickly

Web 1.0 was about posting information about a company. Web 2.0 is about interacting with visitors to the site so three cheers to PL-UK 2.0 and I hope you enjoy it!