Class 2 recall-Human normal Immunoglobulin 500IU solution for Injection

Bio Products Laboratory Limited is recalling one batch of Human Rabies Immunoglobulin following a stability failure for this batch. The batch has shown a reduction in potency of the Human Rabies immunoglobulin.

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-bio-products-laboratory-limited-rabies-human-normal-immunoglobulin-500iu-solution-for-injection-el-26-a-slash-18

MHRA drug alert date:30/03/26

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries and information on this product, please email medinfo@bpl.co.uk  or medinfo@kedrion.com or telephone +44 (0)20 89572255, +44 (0)20 89572622 or +44 (0)20 89572200

For stock control enquiries please email bplorders@kedrion.com, or telephone +44 (0)20 89572251

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

Class 4 caution in use-Apixaban 2.5mg and 5mg Tablets

Sandoz Ltd. have informed the MHRA that the Patient Information Leaflet included in specified batches of Apixaban does not contain up‑to‑date information.

MHRA drug alert Date: 26/3/26

MHRA drug alert link:Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Sandoz Limited, Apixaban 2.5mg and 5mg Tablets, EL(26)A/17 - GOV.UK

This is a caution in use only we are not accepting stock returns

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries and information on this product, please email mi.uk@sandoz.com, or telephone +44 1276 698101.

For stock control enquiries please email sales.sandoz-gb@sandoz.com, or telephone +44 1276 698020.

Class 4 caution in use- PI Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets

Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited have informed the MHRA that their parallel imported packs of Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets have been printed with the incorrect barcode/GTIN on the carton.

MHRA drug alert Date: 26/3/26

MHRA drug alert link:Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Quadrant Pharmaceuticals Limited, Vesomni 6 mg/0.4 mg modified release tablets , EL(26)A/16 - GOV.UK

This is a caution in use only we are not accepting stock returns

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries and information on this product, please email maxearnqa@maxearn.co.uk or telephone 01204 471269.

For stock control enquiries please email maxearnqa@maxearn.co.uk or telephone 01204 471269.

Class 2 recall-Hibiwash 500ml

Mölnlycke Health Care are recalling specific batches of Hibiwash due to microbial contamination at the manufacturing facility, following routine weekly microbiological monitoring.

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-regent-medical-limited-slash-molnlycke-health-care-hibiwash-500ml-el-26-a-slash-15?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=090ab6cb-237a-4a04-a47b-b9e8dcf71bae&utm_content=immediately

MHRA drug alert date:23/03/26

Further Information

For medical information enquiries please use contact: Vigilance@molnlycke.com or telephone: +46 31 722 30 00. For stock queries please contact: UK Responsible Person: mohammad.humadi@molnlycke.com  

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to

Class 4 caution in use-Onkotrone Injection 2 mg/ml concentrate for solution for infusion

Baxter Healthcare Corporation have informed the MHRA that the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) packed in specified batches does not contain up to date information relating to the duration of contraception required for females after stopping taking this medication.

MHRA drug alert Date: 17/3/26

MHRA drug alert link:Class 4 Medicines Defect Notification: Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Onkotrone Injection 2 mg/ml concentrate for solution for infusion, EL(26)A/14 - GOV.UK

This is a caution in use only we are not accepting stock returns

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries regarding this communication, contact Baxter at MedInfo_UKI@baxter.com or telephone 0800 0260516

For stock control enquiries please contact Baxter at servicecs@baxter.com or telephone 0800 028 9881

Mandeep Mudhar, Head of Alphega, speaks with P3 Pharmacy Magazine

Mandeep Mudhar, head of Alphega Pharmacy, tells Arthur Walsh about the ways the network helps its members thrive.

Independents are living through a time of uncertainty, Mandeep Mudhar tells me. Head of Alphega Pharmacy since 2021, he says member businesses are facing the same headwinds as the rest of the sector: “cash flow, remuneration, dispensing at a loss – the whole funding structure and the uncertainties it creates”.  

Drug Tariff clawbacks are a particular headache. “Every business needs to be able to forecast and tell themselves: this is what my turnover looks like, this is what my costs look like. When you haven’t got that certainty, it creates a huge moment of challenge. You still need cash to pay the bills and the salaries.” 

On top of that, the sector has been set the task of reorganising its workflows from top to bottom: “Pharmacies are asking, how can I juggle my time and my team’s time in delivering services without dropping the ball in terms of the core, which is dispensing.” 

The growing membership organisation – “we’re now just over 1,450 members” (around 500 more than three years ago) – tries to give independents tools to cope with the pace of change. For example, Alphega business mentors might recommend carrying out a ‘time motion’ study to assess what staff are doing when – including owner pharmacists. 

Happily, Mudhar says, the sector is largely open to the new opportunities. As supervision regulations change, he finds that some members are spending almost the whole working day in the consultation room delivering services. “A few years back, they would have said I’m spending the majority of my time in the dispensary because that’s where I need to be.” 

Credit: Arthur Walsh, P3 Pharmacy Magazine

Read the full story here: Championing independents: Mandeep Mudhar, Alphega Pharmacy

Class 2 recall-Curaleaf Oil [FS] 10mg/ml THC, 10mg/ml CBD (30ml)

Curaleaf Laboratories are recalling three batches of Curaleaf Oil [FS] 10mg/ml THC 10mg/ml CBD (30ml) due to low THC content.

MHRA drug alert link: https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-2-medicines-recall-rokshaw-limited-trading-as-curaleaf-laboratories-curaleaf-oil-fs-10mg-slash-ml-thc-10mg-slash-ml-cbd-30ml-el-26-a-slash-13?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=b93a959c-5bc7-4b1e-9fa2-503ce10856ac&utm_content=immediately

MHRA drug alert date:12/03/26

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries and information on this product, please email orders@curaleaflaboratories.co.uk, or telephone +44 0191 7431007.

For stock control enquiries please email orders@curaleaflaboratories.co.uk,  or telephone +44 0191 7431007.

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

Beckside Pharmacy visit with Kerry Ellis, Alphega business mentor

Kerry Ellis discovers what one village pharmacy reveals about the power of support…

In a village like Thornton-le-Dale in Yorkshire, community pharmacy isn’t an abstract concept, it’s personal. It’s the cornerstone of the community, the place to turn to when you are unwell, unsure or in need of professional healthcare advice.

Beckside Pharmacy, led by Barbara Obasi, is exactly that kind of place. But behind its smooth-running exterior lies a pharmacy that balances exceptional patient care with the growing demands of running a modern healthcare business.

It’s also where everyday moments of care surface, like conversations with regular customers such as Sue, a valued member of the community who knits bonding squares and blankets for premature babies in intensive care at a local children’s hospital.

Sue’s knitting helps mothers stay connected to their babies when physical closeness isn’t always possible. Mothers wear the squares before swapping them with their babies, helping with bonding, lactation, and comfort.

“It’s a pleasure to do it,” Sue says. These are the kinds of quiet acts of care that pass through a community pharmacy: small, human moments that rarely make headlines but matter deeply to the people involved.

Behind this calm, familiar setting, Beckside Pharmacy also carries the less visible pressures shared by many independent pharmacies. Alongside patient care sits the realities of rising costs, workforce challenges, evolving NHS expectations, and patients with increasingly complex needs.

Running a modern pharmacy now requires clinical expertise, business acumen, and resilience in equal measure. When the Alphega Pharmacy team visited Beckside a few months ago, they weren’t there to impose a template or deliver a one-size-fits-all solution.

They were there to listen, to understand how the pharmacy operates and what support is genuinely useful. That visit offered a clear lens on what effective support for independent pharmacies can look like in practice.

What makes Beckside a useful case study is not that it faces different challenges, but that it shows what can happen when support helps pharmacies manage complexity without disrupting what already works.

Access to business guidance helps translate day-to-day challenges into manageable decisions, supporting sustainability while keeping patient care at the centre.

Training and clinical service development resources allow pharmacies like Beckside to grow their services with confidence, particularly in communities where access to other healthcare providers may be limited and the local pharmacy plays an increasingly central role.

What stands out is how understated the impact is. There’s no sense of reinvention or loss of identity. Beckside Pharmacy still feels like a local constant, shaped by long-standing relationships and familiar faces.

That continuity is evident in relationships with locals like Sue. The support around the pharmacy hasn’t changed its character; it has helped preserve it.

Looked at more broadly, this reflects a wider reality for independent pharmacies. Keeping up with policy changes, service expectations, and regulatory developments can be demanding, especially for small teams.

Access to shared knowledge, peer experience, and timely information can reduce isolation and make change feel more manageable.

Kerry Ellis is an Alphega business mentor.

Class 3 recall- Various Bayer products

Bayer Plc is recalling all stock of the products listed in this notification as a precautionary measure due to the identification of an impurity above the acceptable limit. The recall is at pharmacy and wholesaler level.

MHRA drug alert link:https://www.gov.uk/drug-device-alerts/class-3-medicines-recall-bayer-plc-various-products-el-26-a-slash-12?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications-topic&utm_source=dfbe44f3-0aea-4cf9-b610-8c2cbaa46c48&utm_content=immediately

MHRA drug alert date:12/03/26

Further Information

For all medical information enquiries and information on this product, please email medical.information@bayer.co.uk, or telephone 0118 206 3116.

For stock control enquiries please email orders-uk@bayer.com, or telephone 0118 206 3131.

Please return all affected stock to your original supplier for credit. Unfortunately we can only accept stock purchased from us (Alliance Healthcare Distribution Limited). Any other stock will be returned to your stores/Pharmacies.

Please note that anything not returned to us, or notified to us, within 3 months of this notification, cannot be reimbursed by way of a credit.

Neil Scobie, head of Alphega Member Offer and Engagement, speaks with Independent Community Pharmacy

Independents should look at what they are doing well, what they shouldn’t be doing, what opportunities they have missed and new ideas they can incorporate into their business, says Neil Scobie.

Strategic mentorship has moved from being a ‘nice to have’ to an essential component of profitable and sustainable pharmacy performance. Alphega business mentors play a critical role in helping pharmacy owners navigate this complexity.

Their support begins with a structured review of pharmacy performance, enabling owners to step back from day-to-day firefighting and take a strategic view of their business.

These reviews provide an objective assessment of what is working well and where improvements are needed, creating a foundation for informed decision-making.

A key element of this is a SWOT analysis. By examining strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, mentors help members translate performance insights into practical goals for the year ahead.

Deliver the greatest impact for patients

This approach ensures that planning is grounded in reality rather than aspiration alone. It also helps pharmacy owners prioritise their efforts, focusing on areas that will deliver the greatest impact for patients, teams and business sustainability.

However, strategy is only as effective as the people delivering it. Workforce challenges remain one of the most significant barriers to pharmacy progress and many owners struggle to assess whether their staffing model is truly fit for purpose.

Alphega’s business mentors can help members to address this through the Alphega staff profiling tool, which provides a clear view of staffing levels and skill mix. This enables pharmacy owners to understand whether they have the right number of people, with the right capabilities, to deliver their ambitions.

Importantly, this is not simply about reducing costs. It is about aligning roles, responsibilities and skills to the services a pharmacy wants to provide.

A business aiming to expand clinical services, for example, requires a different staffing profile to one focused primarily on dispensing efficiency. By using data rather than instinct, mentors help owners make confident, evidence-based workforce decisions.

Efficiency is another area where targeted mentorship can deliver meaningful gains. The business mentors are well placed to advise on operational improvements, including pharmacy layout, workflow and the distribution of tasks within the team.

In collaboration with the central team, they can identify changes that improve productivity, enhance patient experience and reduce unnecessary pressure on pharmacists and staff.

Digital tools also play an increasingly important role in driving efficiency and compliance. Mentors can guide members on the effective use of Alphega’s digital solutions, such as SOP Manager, MHRA Manager and Team Manager. When used properly, these tools support consistent standards, simplify governance and free up valuable time for patient-facing activity.

Beyond internal systems, Alphega members also benefit from access to a range of externally provided solutions at preferential rates. These include online controlled drug registers, NHS prescription ordering apps and 24-hour prescription collection points.

Mentors help pharmacies understand which of these solutions are appropriate for their specific circumstances, ensuring technology is adopted strategically rather than reactively.

Ultimately, the value of the mentors lies in their ability to connect insight with action. By combining performance review, strategic planning, workforce analysis and operational efficiency, they help pharmacy owners move from surviving to thriving.

Neil Scobie is head of Alphega Member Offer and Engagement.

Source: Independent Community Pharmacist, Magazine (February 2026) and online : Business spotlight: Assess your performance