Pulse’s newest investigation revealed new data on the number of practices applying to close their patient list – a last throw of the dice before handing back their contract. As part of this series, Eliza Parr explores why practices might take the formal route and what impact it has Practices who have taken the step

GP Connect is to add a functionality for pharmacists to automatically update medical records, without additional action from the patient’s GP. The new functionality has been confirmed as the specification for the Pharmacy First scheme was published last week. As it stands, the opt-in scheme will allow community pharmacies to consult and prescribe for seven

Millions more will undergo ‘opt out’ testing for HIV and other blood-borne viruses over the next year after a rollout of a national programme to more emergency departments in England. It is hoped the £20m programme, which will extend testing to 46 emergency departments across the country, will identify a ‘significant proportion’ of the estimated