A community healthcare provider has offered training to a group of students studying to work in physiotherapy jobs .

The University of Essex students can take advantage of the training, offered by the paediatric physiotherapy team at Anglian Community Enterprise (ACE).

A spokesperson from ACE said the training was being offered to help bolster that provided during the students` degree and masters courses.

Emma Blowers, senior children`s physiotherapist at ACE, said: "Members of our team recognised that we all received very minimal paediatric experience and teaching during our degree training. We were keen to promote paediatric physiotherapy to students at the University of Essex. "

She went on to say that a taster session for students highlighted demand for further paediatric training.

Blowers explained: "We offered MSc students an introduction session to giving an overview of our clinical roles as paediatric physiotherapists within ACE. This proved so popular, further training was requested focusing on some of the key paediatric conditions we treat."

The university has donated to £250 to East Anglia`s Children`s Hospice in recognition of the training.

Copyright Press Association 2012

 Pharmacist jobs are likely to be created across the country after MedicX Pharmacy announced plans to open new practices.

The Preston-based pharmacy company hopes to open seven new practices this year, bringing it to a total of 17 around the UK. Some 140 staff are already employed in pharmacy jobs by the company and more could be taken on at new facilities in Surrey, London, Wiltshire, Lancashire, Merseyside, Rochdale and Hertfordshire.

MedicX Pharmacy practices offer advisory, screening, testing and dispensing services and tend to be situated in newly built GP health centres. The company has an annual turnover of £10 million, but it believes this will rise as it expands and offers more specialist dispensing services.

It also plans to offer more treatment room facilities for services such as chiropody and physiotherapy under its HealthSpace brand.

The company`s operations director Gavin Birchall said: "Our long-term strategy is to create more than 30 MedicX Pharmacies and we`re delighted to announce that we now have a total of 10 practices and look forward to continuing our strong programme of expansion during 2012 and beyond.``

Copyright Press Association 2012

A consultation on changes to how pharmacies in Britain are regulated has been launched by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC).

Opinions on new standards that all registered pharmacies in the country will have to meet, are being sought from professionals in pharmacist jobs , as well as members of the public.

The GPhC`s consultation on Modernising Pharmacy Regulation also lists its plans for how to ensure pharmacies are delivering the outcomes demanded by the new standards. It also sets out the action that will be taken if these standards are not met.

GPhC chair Bob Nicholls, launching the consultation, said: "Protecting patients is at the heart of this new, modern approach to pharmacy regulation. We have set out clear outcomes that we expect to see in pharmacies to ensure safe and effective practice. Pharmacy owners and superintendents bear the responsibility for achieving those outcomes in their pharmacy for their patients.

"We believe that this will be far more effective than imposing a detailed step by step rule book. It means that the new standards will work well for all types of pharmacy now and in the future."

Once the new standards have been approved, a fresh approach for inspecting pharmacies and enforcing the standards will be set up.

Copyright Press Association 2012

Neurologists have been given the go-ahead to use a new blood test for variant CJD.

The test was developed by Medical Research Council`s Prion Unit, whose director Professor John Collinge said it marked a significant advance in the UK`s fight against the human form of mad cow disease.

Up to 15,000 people in Britain might be infected, according to recent studies from tonsil samples.

And Prof Collinge told Channel 4 News the blood test, administered simply by nurses and other healthcare professionals, could enable researchers to determine the actual number far more accurately.

This would enable the targeting of risk management strategies and ensure the safety of the blood supply, he said.

Prof Collinge added: "It could also enable us to make an earlier diagnosis and as treatments become available it is going to be desperately important to get to patients early before there is extensive damage to the brain."

Copyright Press Association 2012