Stephen Whitehead

The ABPI has today endorsed a set of principles on medicines optimisation on how healthcare professionals can support patients to get the most benefit from their medicines.Read more

I’m delighted to be here today and I want to thank you for attending what I know will be an exceptional day.Read more

Recently Jonathan Emms wrote a thoughtful piece in the Sunday Telegraph. He spelt out the benefit that modern medicines can bring, providing new ways of treating terrible illnesses, adding quantity and quality of live for millions of patients. Yet this potential will only be realised if new medicines are developed and then used. Read more

It is clear that the NHS is under mounting pressure to improve the quality of services provided to patients, while delivering significant efficiency savings at the same time. As there is not an infinite budget for the NHS it is widely accepted that spend must be kept under control. Read more

There is a story which may have escaped your attention today, but it is an important one. Interpol, the organisation which brings together police forces from around the world to fight crime, announced a major new initiative to fight the growing threat of counterfeit medicines.Read more

The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual report is right to raise the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The use of antibiotics has changed the face of healthcare, revolutionising quality of life and treatment efficacy for millions of patients. Yet, if AMR is allowed to progress unchecked, it has the potential to completely change much of what we currently take for granted about the viability of modern medicine.Read more

The NHS faces a significant challenge to achieve £20 billion in efficiency savings by 2015 – and it is recognised that financial pressures in healthcare are likely to continue well into the future. The report published today by The Nuffield Trust The anatomy of health spending 2011/12 highlights, once again, the difficulty in tackling these financial challenges.Read more

Comments made by John Castellani (Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) in The Times reveal that there is a global perception that the NHS is not a good place for innovative life sciences companies to do business.Read more

Today’s Bank of England report gives grounds for cautious optimism on the economic outlook. But we cannot be complacent as we know from bitter experience that growth is fragile. Read more

Today, the General Medical Council published updated guidance on best practice in prescribing. The document, entitled 'Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices', provides guidance on the medicine-related topics most frequently raised by doctors contacting the GMC for advice. One of the issues addressed is how doctors should handle the prescribing of medicines for uses for which they are not licensed. Read more